Devices Can Detect Suspicious Compounds Through Glass,
Plastic
The
Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday a machine
utilizing new technology that screens bottles for liquid explosives
will be deployed at the nation's busiest airports this summer.
The agency said it plans to set up 200 machines at airports to
detect a certain explosive in containers passengers are allowed to
bring through security checkpoints, according to the agency. The
trial is an attempt to address concerns raised in August, when
authorities foiled an alleged plot to bomb US-bound airplanes using
liquid bombs, according to USA Today.
Bruce Cumming, marketing director for device maker ICx
Technologies, admits the $20,000 PaxPoint machine does not find all
explosives. "It's designed to detect a very specific type of liquid
threat that is found in common household liquids," he said.
For that reason, TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe said the handheld
devices will not ease restrictions that limit passengers to
carrying small containers of liquids and gels onboard aircraft.
Screeners will use PaxPoint primarily to check bottles holding
medicines, baby formula, and other items that passengers may carry
on board in unlimited quantities.
"It may not necessarily mean any specific benefit to the
traveling public other than enhanced security," Howe said.
The device works with a sniffer that is held an inch from a
container to draw in vapors. An attached sensor displays the level
of explosive material in the vapors.
"If you don't have anything that emits a vapor, then you
don't have a trace of a flammable or explosive liquid that it could
detect," said Jerry Sellman, president of ICx competitor Sellex
International, who questioned if the ICx machine could sense
explosives through thick or tightly sealed containers. His
company's microwave machine analyzes a liquid's molecular structure
to spot explosives.
ICx's explosives detection manager Mark Prather said the
PaxPoint is very sensitive and can, indeed, detect explosives
through thick glass, plastic and metal.
Testing began in April at Miami, Newark, Detroit, Los Angeles
and Las Vegas airports. A four-week trial began Wednesday at
Boston's Logan International Airport. Even though testing is
ongoing, the TSA announced its plan to go ahead and buy 200 of them
because "results have shown it is effective," Howe said.
Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology division
said in September its own effort to find readily available
technology that can screen for liquid explosives had failed. The
agency had asked companies to propose "off-the-shelf" technology
that could be tested in airports to screen containers for liquids,
according to USA Today.
Douglas Bauer, a Science and Technology explosives-detection
expert, said the division has decided to solicit ideas for
liquid-explosives detectors that will take at least a year or two
to develop.