Scheduled for presentation in the technical program of ACS Fall 2021, August 22 - 26, 2021.
ACS National Meeting Information available here: www.acs.org/meetings |
DIVISION: Division of Analytical Chemistry SESSION: Advances in Separations SESSION TIME: 8:00 AM - 11:40 AM PRESENTATION FORMAT: Oral DAY & TIME OF PRESENTATION: Sunday, April, 02, 2017 from 10:35 AM - 10:55 AM ROOM & LOCATION: Franciscan D - Hilton San Francisco Union Square |
| TITLE: Screening and on-site identification of accelerants for arson investigations |
| AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): Jennifer L. Maclachlan1, John N. Driscoll2 |
| INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Centerville, MA, United States. 2. PID Analyzers, LLC, Sandwich, MA, United States. |
  ABSTRACT BODY: Abstract: The photoionization detector (PID) consists of a short wavelength lamp adjacent to an ionization chamber. The UV lamp will ionize hydrocarbons that could be encountered at an arson site and have ionization potentials (IP) greater than 10.6 eV. The major components in air have high IPs and are not ionized by the UV lamp. The PID is very sensitive analyzer for common accelerants. It can detect trace (ppb) levels of hydrocarbons such as gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, lighter fluid etc. This analyzer has a rapid response and can quickly identify areas where pockets of accelerants are located and samples are taken. Our PID’s have been used for decades by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, German Criminal Police Office, The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), the Indonesian National Police (POLRI) and many US fire marshalls and state police. A new tool to speed up investigations has been developed by coupling the PID with a compact field portable gas chromatograph (GC). This provides identification of the type of accelerant used at the arson scene. Gasoline contains aromatic hydrocarbons used for increasing the octane number while diesel fuel has many high molecular weight and cyclic hydrocarbons so they can be easily distinguished. By obtaining that information in the field, two to four weeks can be saved because samples do not have to be sent to the laboratory to keep the investigation going. This same equipment (PID and GC/PID) can also be used for first responders when there is a spill of hazardous chemicals or a need for detection and identification of explosives and/or chemical warfare agents. |
ACCEPTED for Presentation at the American Chemical Society 250th National Meeting in Boston August 16-20, 2015 on the Analytical Chemistry Division Program Track
ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME: Advances in Analytical Separations, Organized by Jennifer Maclachlan
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ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME: [ANYL] Division of Analytical Chemistry
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CONTROL ID: 2260931
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PRESENTATION TYPE: Oral
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TITLE: Detection of ppb levels of arsenic in beers and wines
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AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): John N. Driscoll1, Jennifer L. Maclachlan1
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INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Sandwich, MA, United States.
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ABSTRACT BODY: Abstract: Government regulations have resulted in the discontinuation of many
arsenic compounds in the USA. Still, there may be leftover supplies of arsenical pesticides in farms or in the fields that continue to represent residual risk. In fact, we have investigated a series of California wines using hydride generation/gas chromatography/photoionization detection (HG/GC/PID) for the analysis of trivalent and pentavalent arsenic compounds. We have found that the majority of wine samples contain low (10 ppb) levels of trivalent arsenic but high (hundreds of ppb) of pentavalent arsenic (presumably from the pesticides).
Although pentavalent arsenic is less toxic than trivalent arsenic, it is still a serious problem with
these high levels. We also found some beer samples with high levels of pentavalent arsenic. We will discuss this new method for arsenic detection (HG/GC/PID) along with the results for beer and wines. |
ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME: Combatting Science Mis- and Dis-Information ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME: CINF CONTROL ID: 3910009 PRES...
