Study of possible contamination of police officers and service vehicles with gunshot residues

The hereby article presents the analysis of data from literature of the subject, as well as of analyses of material recovered onto microscope stubs from hands of 59 police officers and traces collected from 38 police cars backseats onto ELEVAK instrument cartridges. The stubs were checked for presence of GSR particles and the filters of ELEVAK cartridges – for O-GSR and other substances. Traces were recovered at seven district police stations within Warsaw Municipal area. The analyses were performed with two analytical techniques: SEM/EDX and GC/MS. From 1 to 27 characteristic GSR particles were found on hands of 18% officers. Between 1 and 11 of such particles were detected on the surfaces of 24% car backseats. Traces of diphenylamine, a chemical substance used as a stabiliser in smokeless powders were detected in 13 vehicles, cocaine traces were found in 3 vehicles and THC was found in one vehicle.

INVESTIGATING EXPLOSIVE SENSITIVITY TO ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE ACCORDING TO NATO STANDARDIZATION DOCUMENTS

Some small scale methods for testing the sensitivity against ESD (Electro Static Discharge) of solid explosives like primary explosives, booster explosives, high explosives, gun and rocket propellants (smokeless powders and solid rocket propellants) and pyrotechnic compositions are overviewed in the paper from the point of NATO standardisation documentation that includes Standard Agreement (STANAG) 4490 [1], Allied Ordnance Publication AOP-7 [2] and STANAG 4170 [3]. The overview is supplemented with analyses and assessments of methods and received results. ESD sensitivity tests of explosives in small scale have not been unified yet in NATO standardization documentation in contradiction to NATO large scale tests. Such unification would be beneficial as it could lead to a greater reliability of results of explosive ESD susceptibility tests performed e.g. in the frame of interlaboratory tests.