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LC–MS–MS Determination of Stabilizers and Explosives Residues in Hand-Swabs

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Abstract

The contribution of explosive trace detection in samples from the hands of suspects has been fundamental in several forensic cases involving terrorists. This paper describes a method for the rapid extraction and unequivocal confirmation of some high potential explosives (trinitrotoluene, cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine, pentaerythritol tetranitrate, nitroglycerin) and two stabilizer (diphenylamine and ethylcentralite) residues in hand-swabs using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The extraction procedure of the analytes from the swabs is realized by solvent elution and the extracts are directly analyzed. Recoveries from spiked swabs range from 78 to 96%; the limits of quantification are between 0.04 and 1.8 ng injected and the inter-day method precision is less than 15%. The developed procedure was applied to the detection of explosives traces in samples after handling tests.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their appreciation to the personnel of the Reparto Investigazioni Scientifiche (RIS) dell’Arma dei Carabinieri of Rome for their assistance in the handling tests of explosives.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio Chimico per la Sicurezza, Dipartimento di Chimica, Università “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, P.O. Box 34, Posta 62, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Daniela Perret & Stefano Marchese

  2. Dipartimento di Chimica, Università “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Alessandra Gentili, Roberta Curini, Alessandro Terracciano & Eleonora Bafile

  3. Dipartimento di Medicina Legale, Università “La Sapienza”, Viale Regina Elena 336, 00161, Rome, Italy

    Francesco Romolo

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  1. Daniela Perret
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  2. Stefano Marchese
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  3. Alessandra Gentili
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  4. Roberta Curini
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  5. Alessandro Terracciano
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  6. Eleonora Bafile
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  7. Francesco Romolo
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Correspondence to Daniela Perret.

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Perret, D., Marchese, S., Gentili, A. et al. LC–MS–MS Determination of Stabilizers and Explosives Residues in Hand-Swabs. Chroma 68, 517–524 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1365/s10337-008-0746-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1365/s10337-008-0746-8

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