The carbon strip method is considered universal. Most research shows
that by optimisation of strip size, adsorption time and temperature,
accelerants belonging to various classes can be effectively concentrated, including
highly volatile, polar substances such as ethanol or acetone [6, 27,
31]. Some authors, however, indicate the shortcomings of this method, the
most significant of which appears to be insufficient concentration of compounds
with a high boiling point, which may lead to mistakes in identification
of the accelerant [10]. The important advantage of the carbon strip
method is the possibility of long-term storage of the adsorbent with adsorbed
substances without significant analytes loss. After the adsorption process,
the carbon strip can be cut into two pieces – one part is desorbed and analysed,
and the second one stored for possible further analysis [3].