How is an explosive identified in CSI?

How is an explosive identified in CSI?

Richard Saferstein (Former Chief Forensic Scientist) gives expert video advice on: How is evidence of an explosion collected in CSI?; How is an explosive identified in CSI?; What is a 'taggant' and how would it help in CSI? and more...

There are a variety of means for identifying an explosive. It obviously depends on the nature of the explosion and the explosive. There are techniques known as gas chromatography, thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry. These are very highly sophisticated analytical techniques. What they all have in common is high sensitivity because when an explosion occurs, not all of the explosive is generally consumed. So you're looking for very minute quantities of materials, which must be looked for with very high sensitive analytical technologies.