Citation

Roberts M, Petraco N, Gittings M. Sci. Justice 2015; 55(6): 467-471.

Affiliation

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Forensic Science Society, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.scijus.2015.08.001

PMID

26654082

Abstract

Nitroglycerin is an active component in many explosive substances. Notably, it is found as an active ingredient in double-base smokeless powders, differentiating them from single-base powders, whose main active ingredient is nitrocellulose. It is proposed that the detection of nitroglycerin within various types of ammunition will allow for the differentiation between single and double-base smokeless powders, thus allowing for a method of distinguishing ammunition or bulk powder samples that may be found during the course of a criminal investigation. Presumptive tests are an effective tool in field-testing for forensic science. These tests are used primarily as rapid, sensitive means of elucidating the chemical characteristics of an unknown sample in-situ. In this paper, the authors present a novel method for the detection of nitroglycerin in smokeless powders with the use of a presumptive color test reagent, dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (p-dmac). Twenty-five smokeless powders were tested using this reagent to evaluate the color change that would occur in the presence of nitroglycerin. All presumptive results were confirmed via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Language: en