Analysis of volatile organic compounds released from the decay of surrogate human models simulating victims of collapsed buildings by thermal desorption-comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry
Date
2015Author

Zorba, Eleni
Mikedi, Katerina
McGregor, L.
Spiliopoulou, C.

Source
Analytica Chimica ActaVolume
883Pages
99-108Google Scholar check
Keyword(s):
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Field experiments were devised to mimic the entrapment conditions under the rubble of collapsed buildings aiming to investigate the evolution of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the early dead body decomposition stage. Three pig carcasses were placed inside concrete tunnels of a search and rescue (SAR) operational field terrain for simulating the entrapment environment after a building collapse. The experimental campaign employed both laboratory and on-site analytical methods running in parallel. The current work focuses only on the results of the laboratory method using thermal desorption coupled to comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TD-GC × GC-TOF MS). The flow-modulated TD-GC × GC-TOF MS provided enhanced separation of the VOC profile and served as a reference method for the evaluation of the on-site analytical methods in the current experimental campaign. Bespoke software was used to deconvolve the VOC profile to extract as much information as possible into peak lists. In total, 288 unique VOCs were identified (i.e., not found in blank samples). The majority were aliphatics (172), aromatics (25) and nitrogen compounds (19), followed by ketones (17), esters (13), alcohols (12), aldehydes (11), sulfur (9), miscellaneous (8) and acid compounds (2). The TD-GC × GC-TOF MS proved to be a sensitive and powerful system for resolving the chemical puzzle of above-ground "scent of death". © 2015 Elsevier B.V..
Collections
Cite as
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Article
Trace detection of endogenous human volatile organic compounds for search, rescue and emergency applications
Agapiou, Agapios; Amann, Anton; Mochalski, Paweł; Statheropoulos, Miltiades K.; Thomas, Charles Lawrence Paul (2015)Since Pauling's paper in the 1970s, interest has increased in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from different bio-fluids, such as blood and urine. A number of VOCs reflect internal biochemical pathways occurring ...
-
Article
Preliminary investigation of using volatile organic compounds from human expired air, blood and urine for locating entrapped people in earthquakes
Statheropoulos, Miltiades K.; Sianos, Efstathios; Agapiou, Agapios; Georgiadou, A.; Pappa, Athina A.; Tzamtzis, N.; Giotaki, H.; Papageorgiou, Charalambos Ch; Kolostoumbis, D. (2005)A preliminary investigation on the possibility of using volatile organic compounds (VOCs) determination of expired air, blood and urine, for the early location of entrapped people in earthquakes, has been carried out. A ...
-
Article
A study of volatile organic compounds evolved from the decaying human body
Statheropoulos, Miltiades K.; Spiliopoulou, C.; Agapiou, Agapios (2005)Two men were found dead near the island of Samos, Greece, in the Mediterranean sea. The estimated time of death for both victims was 3-4 weeks. Autopsy revealed no remarkable external injuries or acute poisoning. The exact ...