title: Volatile Hydrocarbon Analysis in Blood by Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction: The Interpretation of VHC Patterns in Fire-Related Incidents.
abstract: A headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) technique was used to quantitate the concentration of volatile hydrocarbons from the blood of cadavers by cryogenic gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. A total of 24 compounds including aromatic and aliphatic volatile hydrocarbons were analyzed by this method. The analytes in the headspace of 0.1 g of blood mixed with 1.0 mL of distilled water plus 1 µL of an internal standard solution were adsorbed onto a 100-µm polydimethylsiloxane fiber at 0°C for 15 min, and measured using a GC-MS full scan method. The limit of quantitation for the analytes ranged from 6.8 to 10 ng per 1 g of blood. This method was applied to actual autopsy cases to quantitate the level of volatile hydrocarbons (VHCs) in the blood of cadavers who died in fire-related incidents. The patterns of the VHCs revealed the presence or absence of accelerants. Petroleum-based fuels such as gasoline and kerosene were differentiated. The detection of C8-C13 aliphatic hydrocarbons indicated the presence of kerosene; the detection of C3 alkylbenzenes in the absence of C8-C13 aliphatic hydrocarbons was indicative of gasoline; and elevated levels of styrene or benzene in the absence of C3/C4 alkylbenzenes and aliphatic hydrocarbons indicated a normal construction fire. This sensitive HS-SPME method could help aid the investigation of fire-related deaths by providing a simple pattern to use for the interpretation of VHCs in human blood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Natsuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ikematsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Mio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kashiwagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Aya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsusue
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin-Ichi
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Kubo
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D001554:Benzene; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D005390:Fires; D053593:Forensic Toxicology / Q000379:methods*; D005742:Gasoline; D006801:Humans; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000097:blood*; D010578:Petroleum; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D005742:Gasoline; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010578:Petroleum; C013830:baysilon; D001554:Benzene