Investigation of Hazardous Materials in Firecrackers using LIBS Coupled with a Chemometric Method and FTIR Spectroscopy

This article reports the detection and quantification of toxic constituents in firecrackers using LIBS coupled with PCA and FTIR. Spectral signatures of lethal elements along with other elements and electronic bands of Cyanide, AlO, BaO, and CaO are seen in their LIBS spectra which confirms the presence of inorganic and organic compound in the fireworks. The concentration of each constituent/element is determined using the CF-LIBS method and results are compared with ICP-OES results. The concentration of Al is in adequate amount except S4 (b). Li and Ba are present in all samples with maximum amount in S4 (b) and S3 respectively. Molecular stretching of SO4-, C4 H8 - , CuCl- , CO3 - , and NO3 - are observed in the FTIR spectra of the samples. The combined results of LIBS and FTIR recommends the presence of BaNO3 , LiCO3 , SrCO3 , Al-chip, and charcoal in the firecrackers. To discriminate various firecrackers, PCA of the LIBS data is performed. The results show that S3 and S4 (b) are more harmful as they contain higher concentration the compounds of Al, Ba, Li, Sr i.e BaNO3 , LiCO3 , SrCO3 , (Cu3 As2 O3 Cu(C2 H3 O2 )2 ).