Explosive detection: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:00, 20 January 2020

Revision as of 02:12, 12 March 2020

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The explosive detection canine was first used in Algeria in 1959 under the command of General Constantine.<ref>{{Citation | title = Practical Guide for Sporting & Working dogs | publisher = Royal Canin | page = 4}}.</ref>

Recent studies suggest that mass spectrometric vapor analysis, such as [[secondary electrospray ionization]] (SESI-MS), could support canine training for explosive detection<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ong|first=Ta-Hsuan|last2=Mendum|first2=Ted|last3=Geurtsen|first3=Geoff|last4=Kelley|first4=Jude|last5=Ostrinskaya|first5=Alla|last6=Kunz|first6=Roderick|date=2017-06-09|title=Use of Mass Spectrometric Vapor Analysis To Improve Canine Explosive Detection Efficiency|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.7b00451|journal=Analytical Chemistry|volume=89|issue=12|pages=6482–6490|doi=10.1021/acs.analchem.7b00451|pmid=28598144|issn=0003-2700}}</ref>.

===Honey bees===

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One technique compares reflected [[ultraviolet]], [[infrared]] and [[visible light]] measurements on multiple areas of the suspect material. This has an advantage over olfactory methods in that a sample does not need to be prepared. A patent exists for a portable explosive detector using this method.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.newscientist.com/blog/invention/2008/05/portable-explosives-detector.html |title= Portable explosives detector|date= 2008-05-28| first =Justin | last = Mullins | work = New Scientist Blogs}}</ref>

Mass spectrometry is seen as the most relevant new spectrometry technique.<ref>{{Citation | URLurl = http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10996.html | title = Opportunities to Improve Airport Passenger Screening with Mass Spectrometry | publisher = The National Academies Press| doi = 10.17226/10996 | isbn = 978-0-309-09240-1 | year = 2004 }}.</ref> Several manufacturers have products that are under development, both in the US, Europe and Israel,<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Laser detect |url= http://www.laser-detect.com/brochures/LUMIN9689_narrowgate.pdf |title= Lumin 9689 Narrow gate |accessdate=2012-04-11 |url-status= dead | type = brochure | format = [[Portable document format | PDF]] |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120823083344/http://www.laser-detect.com/brochures/LUMIN9689_narrowgate.pdf |archivedate= 2012-08-23}}</ref> including Laser-Detect in Israel, FLIR Systems and Syagen in the US and SEDET in Europe.

===X-ray machines===

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==Detection aids==

A [[taggant|detection taggant]] can be added when explosives are made to make detection easier. The Montreal Convention 1991 is an international agreement requiring manufacturers of explosives to do this.<ref>{{Citation | chapter = XX | URLchapter-url = http://dgca.nic.in/int_conv/Chap_XX.pdf | title = International convention | publisher = NIC}}.</ref> An example is with [[Semtex]], which now is made with [[DMDNB]] added as a detection taggant.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.explosia.cz/en/?show%3Dsemtex |title= Semtex |accessdate=2009-05-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090805123548/http://www.explosia.cz/en/?show=semtex |archivedate= 2009-08-05}}</ref> [[DMDNB]] is a common taggant as dogs are sensitive to it. In the UK the relevant legislation is the Marking of Plastic Explosives for Detection Regulations 1996.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = OPSI | URLurl = http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1996/Uksi_19960890_en_1.htm | title = The Marking of Plastic Explosives for Detection Regulations | year = 1996}}</ref>

==Bogus devices==

The US Department of Justice warned in a National Institute of Justice publication, "Guide for the Selection of Commercial Explosives Detection Systems for Law Enforcement Applications (NIJ Guide 100-99)," about the ongoing trend of "Bogus" explosives detection equipment being sold to unsuspecting consumers. The report mentions by name the [[Quadro Tracker]], an apparent dowsing rod with a freely pivoting radio antenna rod with no functioning internal components. On August 8–9, 2005 the Naval Explosive Ordance Disposal Technical Division via the United States Counter Terrorism Technology Task Force conducted testing on the [[Sniffex|SNIFFEX]] and concluded that "the SNIFFEX handheld detector does not work"<ref>{{Citation | title = Navy report | publisher = Amazon | work = S3 | URLurl = http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/docs/NavyReport.pdf | format = PDF}}.</ref>

{{Quote | …There is a rather large community of people around the world that believes in [[dowsing]]: the ancient practice of using forked sticks, swinging rods, and pendulums to look for underground water and other materials. These people believe that many types of materials can be located using a variety of dowsing methods. Dowsers claim that the dowsing device will respond to any buried anomalies, and years of practice are needed to use the device with discrimination (the ability to cause the device to respond to only those materials being sought). Modern dowsers have been developing various new methods to add discrimination to their devices. These new methods include molecular frequency discrimination (MFD) and harmonic induction discrimination (HID). MFD has taken the form of everything from placing a xerox copy of a Polaroid photograph of the desired material into the handle of the device, to using dowsing rods in conjunction with frequency generation electronics (function generators). '''None of these attempts to create devices that can detect specific materials such as explosives (or any materials for that matter) have been proven successful in controlled double-blind scientific tests.''' In fact, all testing of these inventions has shown these devices to perform no better than random chance…<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/178913.htm |title= NIJ Guide 100-99 |date= September 1999 |publisher=US Department of Justice}}</ref>}}