THE TECHNOLOGY FOR DETECTING WEAPONS OF mass destruction (WMD) has been advancing each year since 1995, when sarin nerve agent was released in the Tokyo subway system; some of the most dramatic advances have been seen this past year. Although some of the newer devices represent a simple retooling of existing technologies, others represent substantial advances in technology. For a number of years, WMD detection specialists have had a desire to combine detection technologies into one device, because that is seen as the best method for obtaining accurate results. The basic operational philosophy is simple-while each technology may have known false positives, it is less likely that several different technologies will have false positives for the same material, thereby yielding a more accurate result.
A few years ago, there was a device that combined ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and surface acoustical wave (SAW) sensors into one detection device. In theory, this was a good approach, but the device is no longer on the market. Any device that uses multiple technologies to detect chemical materials is on the right track.
As a review, the three most common technologies for detecting chemical warfare agents are IMS, SAW, and flame spectrophotometry. None of these technologies are very quick at identifying chemical warfare agents; they have detection times of 20 to 90 seconds. Each of these technologies has advantages and disadvantages (Table 1).
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