Originally Posted by
BubbaLoop
These are not pH strips. They claim them to be similar to pH strips, and to detect "explosives" without immersion into the liquid, just by being waved above it. That is the precise reason I wanted to try to find out more about them. Seems pretty magical to me...
One word. Vapor. Unless of course you are claiming that hydrogen peroxide does not produce vapors, in which case I have to ask what methods you use as a “professional”.
Originally Posted by
BubbaLoop
I would like to try to do an investigation on the seemingly magical TSA strips that can detect explosives after being waved over liquid flasks. Data I have found are:
They don’t detect “explosives”, they detect chemicals. That detection means that a more in-depth investigation is needed. That’s all.
Originally Posted by
FliesWay2Much
I did two additional things:
I ran the briefing in slide show mode. Slide 14 has a bunch of fly-ins. It shows that drugs and money can be detected by: trace portals, pat-downs, and pornoscanners. So, the puffers really WERE used to find drugs! (Anybody surprised?)
Like the ETD systems we use, they can be
programed to detect just about any chemical. The US Coast Guard uses the same ETD technology to detect drug traces on interdicted vessels. They are looking for drugs and have their units programed to do so, the TSA is not looking for drugs and our units are not programed for it.