Control Swab (Background)
Definition
A swab collected from an uncontaminated surface outside the outer cordon of a blast scene, processed identically to scene swabs, to establish the baseline chemical matrix of the environment. Essential for distinguishing blast residue from environmental contamination in the analytical interpretation.
Related terms
- CFSL Hyderabad Explosives Wing
- The explosives examination section of India's Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad, the designated court-certifying facility for explosives analysis in major Indian...
- GC-ECD
- Gas chromatography with electron capture detection. Achieves 1-10 picogram detection limits for nitroaromatic (TNT, DNT) and nitramine (RDX, HMX, PETN) explosives. Cannot...
- Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS)
- A field-deployable analytical technique that separates ions by their mobility in an electric field at atmospheric pressure. Used for trace explosive detection...
- Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM)
- An LC-MS/MS acquisition mode in which the first quadrupole (Q1) selects a precursor ion at a specific m/z, the second (Q2) fragments...
- NIST SRM 8806
- A National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material for explosive residue analysis, providing certified reference solutions of TNT, RDX, PETN,...
- Seat of Explosion
- The physical location at the centre of an explosion, identified by maximum crater depth, convergence of fragment-throw vectors, and highest damage density....
- SEM-EDX
- Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The electron beam excites characteristic X-rays from each element present in the target grain, giving...
- Suppressed Conductivity IC
- An ion chromatography detection method in which a membrane suppressor chemically neutralises the background eluent conductivity, leaving only the analyte ions as...
- Thermal Desorption
- The process of heating a swab or trap to release adsorbed analyte vapour for introduction into an IMS or GC instrument. Temperature...
Explained in
- Post-Blast Residue Sampling and the IMS, GC-ECD, LC-MS/MS WorkflowA swab collected from an uncontaminated surface outside the outer cordon of a blast scene, processed identically to scene swabs, to establish the baseline chem...