The role of analytical chemistry in homeland security has greatly increased within emergency response agencies at local, state and federal levels. Highly publicized scares involving anthrax bacterial spores and ricin biotoxin have made the deployment of sophisticated analytical technologies a necessity for fire department hazmat teams and military civil support units. FT-IR spectroscopy is now commonly used for rapidly identifying “suspicious white powders,” thanks to the broad qualitative applicability of the technique. Recent advances in portable FT-IR instrumentation and generous federal funding have put FT-IR spectrometers in the hands of emergency responders for this purpose. This presentation will discuss the relevant technological advances and several case studies involving the real-world use of FT-IR in homeland security applications.
Back to Symposia: FTIR Applications
Back to The 33rd Northeast Regional Meeting (July 14-17, 2005)