Over the last several years, LC/MS has become a vital part of explosives analysis at the FBI Laboratory. In early 1996, a method was developed using electrospray ionization with an API source coupled to a triple-stage quadrupole mass spectrometer. Customizing the mobile phase to promote the formation of analyte-adduct ion pairing resulted in a sensitive and analyte-specific method for the analysis and confirmation of explosives and explosives residues.
Following the development and validation of the LC/MS electrospray method, the technique was used to confirm the results in several high profile bombing cases. The LC/MS method was then used for the analysis and confirmation in the FBI's unprecedented investigation of the TWA Flight 800 explosion. LC/MS was a vital tool in this investigation with the technique used to analyze over 2,000 samples.
Please send any comments, corrections, or suggestions to svanbram@science.widener.edu.
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