Evaluating the Impact of Environmental Conditions on the Cocaine Odorant Methyl Benzoate

Cocaine is one of the most used drugs in the United States, indicating the need for methods to detect cocaine quickly and accurately. One accepted method for narcotics detection is the use of canines, which are the most common bio-detectors for volatile odor signatures. These odor signatures are composed of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and are generally constituent compounds in the headspace above the narcotic sample. For example, methyl benzoate is widely accepted as the primary odorant VOC in the headspace of cocaine. Currently, there is a dearth of research as to the role of environmental conditions on canine performance, however, a tangential gap in literature lies in the effects of controlled target odor emission in these changing environments. Thus, the goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of various environmental conditions have on methyl benzoate odor plume development. Methyl benzoate odor plume analysis was conducted using a sample of methyl benzoate diluted to a 10-1 concentration in mineral oil as the cocaine odorant analog. The odor was extracted and analyzed with solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The methyl benzoate sample was exposed to the environment by removing the vial cap, with the targeted environmental conditions inside of the chamber of hot/humid, hot/intermediate, hot/dry, cold/humid, cold/intermediate, and cold/dry. Extractions of the odor were performed by exposing the fiber simultaneously to sample exposure, with fibers spaced out away from the sample in 20inch increments, for a total sampling time of 30min. Results indicate that there were significant differences of odor abundance between hot and cold conditions. Furthermore, humidity showed no significant effects on odor abundance in the hot conditions but did have significant effects in the cold conditions. Distance from sample showed significant effects in the hot conditions, with the closer distances having higher odor abundance, whereas the distance from sample did not produce significant effects in the cold conditions.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Forensic Science

Grantor

Texas Tech University

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Thompson, Ryan

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Prada-Tiedemann, Paola A.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Hall, Nathaniel
• Halamek, Jan

• cocaine
• methyl benzoate
• odor
• solid phase microextraction (SPME)
• coupled to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS)
• environmental condition

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2346/96548

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ttu-ir.tdl.org:2346/96548