Travel: US Company says it can identify traces of PETN

SpectraFluidics Inc. says that it has successfully completed its latest series of development tests involving the detection of trace levels of the explosives PETN, RDX, TNT and ammonium nitrate.

"PETN is a highly explosive chemical that typically exists in powder form. It is difficult to detect using conventional airport scanning and inspection technology," said Craig Cummings, SpectraFluidics' CEO and former senior vice president at defence company SAIC. But, he says ", our detection technology is able to detect PETN and RDX - another difficult-to-detect explosive agent - at parts-per-billion levels in air."

Cummings is confident in his company's lead: "to the best of our knowledge, no one other than SpectraFluidics can make that statement," he said.

SpectraFluidics' first commercial product - scheduled for release later this year - can be configured as either a portal type of system or a hand-held device. The company also plans units for retrofitting existing airport scanners and other screening hardware already installed in the market. Ultimately, the devices will provide unparalleled, real-time sampling and detection of trace amounts of explosives in either vapour or solid phase, with minimal user interaction.

SpectraFluidics' sensing technology can detect individual explosive molecules in the air emanating from either a passenger or their luggage, without the use of time-consuming and expensive swabs or reagents. It does not rely on a difference in density between the hidden explosive and the human body, nor does it require the hidden explosive to be visible on a whole body scanner - or subject a passenger to a "virtual strip search."

Equally importantly, it is expected to cost a fraction of competing scanning alternatives.

The inventors, University of California, Santa Barbara, have licensed the intellectual property to the newly formed SpectraFluidics to commercialise the technology. Since that time, SpectraFluidics has captured two U.S. Army development and engineering contracts

The technology is also able to identify minute quantities of illicit drugs and other substances.

( a billion is a million to the power two i.e. 12 zeros).