RESOURCES
GKA Analytical Services conducts ongoing research into fire debris related topics to assist our examiners in the field and to contribute to the knowledge base of fire investigation as a forensic discipline.
We regularly publish papers in professional journals and post technical bulletins on this. If you would like to participate in research with us, please view our current list of research topics.
A survey of Australian petrol and diesel fuel
21 May 2020
Maintaining contemporary reference collections of ignitable liquids is important for all fire debris laboratories. A large-scale survey of fuel products will allow for current trends in composition and geographical differences to be established.
DOWNLOAD PDF >Are expert fire examiners able to identify ignitable liquids by scent better than laypersons?
11 Dec 2019
Ignitable liquids are composed of volatile organic compounds which produce varied odour profiles. This study seeks to determine whether fire examiners are able to identify liquids based on scent alone.
DOWNLOAD PDF >Contamination of adsorptive substrates by ignitable liquid vapours
22 Feb 2019
The aim of this research is to assess whether adsorptive substrates at fire scenes are capable of retaining volumes of ignitable liquids that are significant for fire debris analysis.
DOWNLOAD PDF >Investigation of kitchen exhaust duct contents
13 Nov 2018
Kitchen exhaust ducts contain a large amount of oil residues. This research project aims to examine these residues from a forensic chemistry perspective.
DOWNLOAD PDF >Creation of an animal and vegetable oil database
04 Feb 2018
Animal and vegetable oils are composed of various fatty acids. This project aims to establish a database of oil chromatograms to aid in their analysis and classification.
DOWNLOAD PDF >Analysis of tile flooring materials for background contaminants
01 Jun 2017
Ceramic tile manufacture involves multiple processes, the effect of which on the chemical profile of the tile is unknown.
DOWNLOAD PDF >Analysis of the prevalence of terpenes in chewing gums
27 May 2016
Chewing gums often contain terpene compounds. The objective of this research is to assess the relevance of these terpene compounds to the fire debris analyst.
DOWNLOAD PDF >An investigation into consumption and disturbance of electrical wiring by rodent activity
06 Jul 2015
This research aims to establish the conditions under which rodents may consume or otherwise disturb electrical wiring in a building and what affect this may have on fire risk.
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