NIST SRM 8806
Definition
A National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material for explosive residue analysis, providing certified reference solutions of TNT, RDX, PETN, HMX, and related compounds at traceable concentrations. Required for instrument calibration and method validation in accredited forensic explosives laboratories.
- Analytes
- TNT, RDX, PETN, HMX and related compounds
- Form
- Certified reference solutions
- Use
- Instrument calibration for explosives residue analysis
- Required by
- Accredited forensic explosives laboratories
Common questions
Why can't seized explosive material serve as its own calibration standard?+
Casework material has unverified purity and concentration, so it cannot anchor a quantitative measurement. SRM 8806 provides certified concentrations traceable to national standards so instrument response can be quantified and defended in court.
Is SRM 8806 used for field detection or laboratory confirmation?+
It is a laboratory calibration standard for confirmatory instruments such as GC-ECD and LC-MS/MS, not a field reagent. Field triage tools like ion mobility spectrometry are checked with separate test kits.
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...
- Control Swab (Background)
- A swab collected from an uncontaminated surface outside the outer cordon of a blast scene, processed identically to scene swabs, to establish...
- 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...
- 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...