Prevalence of ignitable liquids in clothing with printing

In this study, 141 shirts were evaluated to determine the prevalence of ignitable liquids in printed shirts. Both new and worn shirts were included in this study. Volatile components extracted from the shirts were noted and many of the most commonly encountered components could be contributed to human skin or laundry, personal hygiene, or personal care products. Volatile components that are known to be present in ignitable liquids were also identified, including toluene, C₂-alkylbenzenes, and normal alkanes. An aromatic pattern consisting of toluene, C₂-alkylbenzenes, and sometimes extending to the C₃-alkylbenzenes or beyond was observed in 41% of the shirts in this study. This pattern was mainly visible in the aromatic extracted ion profile, though it was clearly identifiable in some total ion chromatograms. This high occurrence suggests that a caveat should be used if identifying an aromatic product in a clothing item with printing. Though several shirts showed multiple sequential n-alkanes, only one had a petroleum pattern that would be considered for identification.