LAUSR

Abstract Activated charcoal strips (c-strips) are routinely used to preserve volatile components extracted from fire debris. This study sought to evaluate the use of c-strips for long term sample preservation. Gasoline or a heavy petroleum distillate was spiked at low and high spike volumes in triplicate, then extracted using passive headspace concentration. Extracts were stored in three types of vials: 2-mL screw cap gas chromatography (GC) vials, 2-mL crimp cap GC vials, and 4-mL screw cap vials. To evaluate persistence, c-strips were stored at room temperature then eluted at multiple time intervals: 0 days (immediately following extraction), 10 days, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. Gasoline and the heavy petroleum distillate at both spike volumes were identifiable for all replicates for the full two-year period, for each storage vial type tested. This demonstrates that c-strips are effective for the long-term preservation of ignitable liquids.