Chemical fingerprinting of adhesive tapes by GCMS detection of petroleum hydrocarbon products

Pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes often represent key evidence of crimes such as assault, rape or homicide; thus, the development of analytical techniques able to contribute to a detailed characterization of these materials is of forensic importance. The gas chromatography-massspectrometry (GCMS) an...

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Main Authors: Aziz, Nurhuda, Greenwood, Paul, Grice, Kliti, Watling, J., Van Bronswijk, Wilhelm
Format: Journal Article
Published: Blackwell Publishing 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/24660
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author Aziz, Nurhuda
Greenwood, Paul
Grice, Kliti
Watling, J.
Van Bronswijk, Wilhelm
author_facet Aziz, Nurhuda
Greenwood, Paul
Grice, Kliti
Watling, J.
Van Bronswijk, Wilhelm
author_sort Aziz, Nurhuda
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes often represent key evidence of crimes such as assault, rape or homicide; thus, the development of analytical techniques able to contribute to a detailed characterization of these materials is of forensic importance. The gas chromatography-massspectrometry (GCMS) analysis of the solvent extractable fractions of a suite of electrical and gaffer adhesive tapes spanning a range of colors and manufacturers identified a number of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons. Molecular and isotopic analyses of hydrocarbon constituents of complex materialshave found wide analytical utility including the forensic investigation of oil spills and arson. Here, we investigate the utility of these techniques for characterizing the hydrocarbon composition of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes for forensic correlation purposes. Subtle distinction of tape sampleswas evident in the GCMS distribution of several hydrocarbon groups including alkyl-naphthalenes, hopane and sterane biomarkers. Linear discriminant analysis of the abundances of these products provided high level differentiation of tape manufacturer. The distinction of different adhesivetape samples was further extended by measurement of their stable carbon isotopic values. The molecular and isotopic differences of the petroleum content of tapes are consistent with the use of different petroleum materials used in the manufacturing process and demonstrate the benefits of thecombined use of complementary oil hydrocarbon characterization approaches. This study reveals the forensic potential of using established petroleum characterization methods for characterizing materials with a petroleum-derived hydrocarbon element.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2008
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-246602017-09-13T15:53:33Z Chemical fingerprinting of adhesive tapes by GCMS detection of petroleum hydrocarbon products Aziz, Nurhuda Greenwood, Paul Grice, Kliti Watling, J. Van Bronswijk, Wilhelm gas chromatography mass spectrometry adhesive tapes chemical fingerprinting forensic science linear discriminant analysis biomarkers petroleum hydrocarbons stable isotopes Pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes often represent key evidence of crimes such as assault, rape or homicide; thus, the development of analytical techniques able to contribute to a detailed characterization of these materials is of forensic importance. The gas chromatography-massspectrometry (GCMS) analysis of the solvent extractable fractions of a suite of electrical and gaffer adhesive tapes spanning a range of colors and manufacturers identified a number of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons. Molecular and isotopic analyses of hydrocarbon constituents of complex materialshave found wide analytical utility including the forensic investigation of oil spills and arson. Here, we investigate the utility of these techniques for characterizing the hydrocarbon composition of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes for forensic correlation purposes. Subtle distinction of tape sampleswas evident in the GCMS distribution of several hydrocarbon groups including alkyl-naphthalenes, hopane and sterane biomarkers. Linear discriminant analysis of the abundances of these products provided high level differentiation of tape manufacturer. The distinction of different adhesivetape samples was further extended by measurement of their stable carbon isotopic values. The molecular and isotopic differences of the petroleum content of tapes are consistent with the use of different petroleum materials used in the manufacturing process and demonstrate the benefits of thecombined use of complementary oil hydrocarbon characterization approaches. This study reveals the forensic potential of using established petroleum characterization methods for characterizing materials with a petroleum-derived hydrocarbon element. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/24660 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00798.x Blackwell Publishing restricted
spellingShingle gas chromatography mass spectrometry
adhesive tapes
chemical fingerprinting
forensic science
linear discriminant analysis
biomarkers
petroleum hydrocarbons
stable isotopes
Aziz, Nurhuda
Greenwood, Paul
Grice, Kliti
Watling, J.
Van Bronswijk, Wilhelm
Chemical fingerprinting of adhesive tapes by GCMS detection of petroleum hydrocarbon products
title Chemical fingerprinting of adhesive tapes by GCMS detection of petroleum hydrocarbon products
title_full Chemical fingerprinting of adhesive tapes by GCMS detection of petroleum hydrocarbon products
title_fullStr Chemical fingerprinting of adhesive tapes by GCMS detection of petroleum hydrocarbon products
title_full_unstemmed Chemical fingerprinting of adhesive tapes by GCMS detection of petroleum hydrocarbon products
title_short Chemical fingerprinting of adhesive tapes by GCMS detection of petroleum hydrocarbon products
title_sort chemical fingerprinting of adhesive tapes by gcms detection of petroleum hydrocarbon products
topic gas chromatography mass spectrometry
adhesive tapes
chemical fingerprinting
forensic science
linear discriminant analysis
biomarkers
petroleum hydrocarbons
stable isotopes
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/24660