Chromatographic Analysis of Byproducts from a Non-Toxic Ammunition and a Marked Ammunition: An Assessment of Toxicity

One way to access the toxicity of a fired ammunition is by analyzing the byproducts generated by shooting. This work has analyzed compounds produced by firing non-toxic ammunition (NTA) by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). In addition to standard NTA, NTA containing luminescent markers were also analyzed. Luminescent markers have been shown to be an excellent tool in the identification of Gunshot Residues (GSR) produced from NTA. As these markers are designed to tag NTA, they must not produce toxic byproducts. In this work, we focused on identification of volatile products that can be inhaled by shooter when firing and can represents risk to their heath by acute and chronic exposition. For the NTA ammunition several toxic compounds, such as benzonitrile and naphthalene were found. They were related to de degradation of explosives, sensitizers, stabilizers, and other materials added to the gunpowder, indicating possible toxicity by shooters’ long exposure. Moreover, as some of the compounds found are classified as GSR indicators, the used methodology could be adapted for GSR identification. Besides the compounds identified in NTA samples, in marked samples, pyridine and benzene were identified. Pyridine was provided by dipicolinic acid and benzene was provided by trimesic or terephthalic acid, all used as binder in the structures of the markers. However, it can be concluded that the possible toxicity of the NTA is mainly not altered by the presence of the markers because of the small amount of marker added to ammunition and because only a small part of the marker is degraded, requiring an unreal number of shots to produce some acute effect.

Analysis of primer gunshot residue particles by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

LIBS and LAICPMS microchemical mapping for rapid detection of gunshot residues is reported for a large dataset of pGSR authentic items and microparticle standards, with accurate differentiation between shooter and non-shooter profiles (>88%).

Gold leaf electrochemical sensors: applications and nanostructure modification

A gold leaf sensor with structure modification enabling on-site identification of types of bullet from gunshot residues.

Detection of Organic and Inorganic Gunshot Residues from Hands using Complexing Agents and LC-MS/MS

Gunshot residue (GSR) refers to a conglomerate consisting of both organic molecules (OGSR) and inorganic species (IGSR). Historically, forensic examiners have focused only on identifying the IGSR particles by their...