title: Development and Applications of Portable Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for Emergency Responders, the Military, and Law-Enforcement Organizations.
abstract: Portable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) systems are being deployed for field use, and are designed with this goal in mind. Performance characteristics of instruments that are successful in the field are different from those of equivalent technologies that are successful in a laboratory setting. These field-portable systems are extending the capabilities of the field user, providing investigative leads and confirmatory identifications in real time. Many different types of users benefit from the availability of this technology including emergency responders, the military, and law-enforcement organizations. This manuscript describes performance characteristics that are important for field-portable instruments, especially field-portable GC-MS systems, and demonstrates the value of this equipment to the disciplines of explosives investigations, fire investigations, and counterfeit-drug detection. This paper describes the current state of portable GC-MS technology, including a review of the development of portable GC-MS, as well as a demonstration of the value of this capability using different examples.
authors.affiliation: Technical Solutions, Smiths Detection, Edgewood, MD, USA pauline.leary@smithsdetection.com.
authors.forename: Pauline E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Leary
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, Smiths Detection, Edgewood, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Gareth S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Dobson
authors.affiliation: Science Department, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, USA.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Reffner
mesh_terms: D004340:Drug Contamination; D060731:Emergency Responders; D053834:Explosive Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D008904:Miniaturization / Q000295:instrumentation; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D053834:Explosive Agents; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
keywords: GC-MS; Portable analysis; counterfeit drugs; explosives; fire debris