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Portable Raman Spectroscopy as a Functional Tool in Homeland Security

Portable Raman Spectroscopy as a Functional Tool in Homeland Security. Izake, E. , Forensic and homeland security applications of modern portable Raman spectroscopy. Forensic Science International. (2010), vol 9, pp. 1 – 8. Kassandra Luening and Neil Rybak. Conventional Techniques. GC/MS

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Portable Raman Spectroscopy as a Functional Tool in Homeland Security

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  1. Portable Raman Spectroscopy as a Functional Tool in Homeland Security Izake, E. , Forensic and homeland security applications of modern portable Raman spectroscopy. Forensic Science International. (2010), vol 9, pp. 1 – 8 Kassandra Luening and Neil Rybak

  2. Conventional Techniques • GC/MS • HPLC/MS • THZ (Terahertz radiation spectroscopy) • Limitations • Operator must come into contact with potentially hazardous samples • Instruments must be disposed of or decontaminated after contact with hazardous materials • These techniques are not portable. Require the movement of complex instruments

  3. Portable Raman Instruments • Allows for the portability of Raman spectroscopy • High volumes of samples can be scanned, without the operator coming into contact with the sample, and the units are now fully portable

  4. Chemistry of Raman Spectroscopy • Monochromatic light applied to sample • Incident light is scattered • Rayleigh (elastic) and Raman (inelastic) • Rayleigh scatter is filtered out • The returned scattered light is a different wavelength • This difference corresponds to an energy shift which provides a unique chemical fingerprint

  5. Advantages of Raman Spectroscopy • Provides molecular fingerprints of each analyte, providing the possibility of highly selective determinations • Applicable to any optically accessible sample; organic, inorganic, or biological • Solid, liquid, gaseous, transparent and non-transparent samples can be measured • Aqueous solutions present no special technical problems • Sample scanning is non-invasive

  6. Detection can be of sample sizes from 1 µm – dm2 and distances from millimetres up to several metres • Raman fingerprint is independent of excitation wavelength, allowing for the use of any laser for excitation • Detection can be done day and night without the presence of background signals due to ambient light interference • Raman spectroscopy has become fully portable

  7. Examples of Portable Raman in Use • Has been used to identify illicit drugs using NIR laser excitation2 • Capable of rapid detection, acquisition times of 1 minutes when analyzing amphetamine street samples3 • Ultra trace amounts of illicit drugs (5 – 20 µm in size) found under nail varnish in a non-destructive manner in under three minutes4

  8. Stand-off Raman detection of hazardous substances • Constructing a gated detector system can restrict the laser pulse of the light source • Data collected at the time the laser is expected to arrival at the sample • Allows for sample detection from distances up to 100 metres5

  9. Ahura First Defender • Currently in use by emergency response teams6 • Has been used to assist the FBI to identify hazardous materials7 • Results of the analysis of the “First Defender” instrument have been used in court to assist in a conviction9

  10. Ahura TruNarc • The ease of use of the instrument and the library of samples “potentially eliminates the need for a chemist to testify” • Simple non-expert use of the instrument

  11. Rigaku Firstguard Handeld Analyzer8 • No sample prep needed • Operated like a point and shoot camera • Delivers results in seconds with no chance of human error • User can either build their own database or use supplied library

  12. Conclusions • Portable Raman has been shown to be more effective than conventional methods in the detection of drugs and other hazardous samples • No contact of sample with analyst or instrument • High throughput capability • Can be used in close proximity of sample or at distances • Can analyze organic, inorganic and biological samples through containers, in both light and dark environments • New portable instrumentation is user friendly allowing non expert users to easily identify samples

  13. References • Izake, E. , Forensic and homeland security applications of modern portable Raman spectroscopy. Forensic Science International. (2010), vol 9, pp. 1 – 8 • S.E.J. Bell, D.T. Burns, A.C. Dennnis, L.J. Matchett, J.S. Speers, Composition and profiling of seized ecstasy tablets by Raman spectroscopy, Analyst 125 (10) (2000) 541 – 544 • E. Katainen, M. Elomaa, M. Laakkonen, E. Sippola, P. Niemela, K. Janne Suhonen, Jarvinen, Quantification of the amphetamine content in seized street samples by Raman Spectroscopy, J. Forensic Sci. 52 (1) (2007) 88 – 90 • E. Ali, H. Edwards, M. Hargreaves, I. Scowen, Raman spectroscopic investigation of cocaine hydrochloride on human nail in a forensic context, Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 390 (4) (2008) 1159 – 1166 • S.K. Sharma, New trends in telescopic remote Raman spectroscopic instrumentation, Spectrochim. Acta Part A 68 (5) (2007) 1008 – 1022 • City of Albany, NY. Department of Fire, Emergency Services and Code Enforcement Accomplishments for 2009. • Monmouth County Health Department Hazardous Materials Response/UST Units 2009 Annual Report • Information obtained from brochure provided by contact with Rigaku Raman Technologies (www.rigakuraman.com) • Rains, S. (2011, May 7), Convict Guilty of Courthouse Hoax. Lawton Constitution (http://www.swoknews.com/main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=98&ArticleID=34618)

  14. Ahura TruScan in use

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