�Little has been
accomplished for examining people themselves since metal detectors some 30 years
ago,� said Ken Wood, president of Barringer Technologies of Warren, N.J., which
built the Sentinel device launched this week. �The Sentinel will non-invasively
detect and identify microscopic amounts of over 30 explosive or narcotic
substances,� he said.
Barringer�s main competitor,
Ion Track Instruments of Wilmington, Mass. is building a similar portal,
spokeswoman Joanne Arsenault said. Still formally unnamed, the company�s calling
it the �Entryscan 3� for now.
The Sentinel will come
onto the market at the end of this year, Wood said. The company didn�t give a
price for the machine, but systems for checking baggage for explosives cost
around $1 million each, according to the FAA.
Winds of
Change
When you step into a Sentinel, which
looks like a larger than usual metal detector, a light puff of air ruffles your
clothes. That air is sucked into vents in the machine, which separates out heavy
molecules like those that make up drugs and explosives. (The active ingredient
in marijuana, THC, weighs 87 atomic mass units. Water, a simple molecule, weighs
10.) The process uses a sample-preconcentration technique developed by Sandia
National Labs, a Department of Energy installation in Albuquerque,
N.M.
ITI�s Entryscan device relies on body heat,
which warms up air near a traveler�s body and lifts it to the top of the device.
The Entryscan collects a smaller amount of air, and doesn�t require the
Sentinel�s puff, Arsenault said. Their system was developed with the Gas
Dynamics Lab at Pennsylvania State University.
�You
have heat rising off your body all the time, and it tends to carry particles off
your body,� FAA spokeswoman Becky Trexler, who�s familiar with both devices
said. On an infrared camera, �it looks very karmic.�
Extremely Sensitive
Systems
Both the Sentinel and the Entryscan 3
then use ion mobility spectrometry, which relies on analyzing the rate of
movement of a particular molecule, to determine exactly what substances the
heavy molecules form. If they find something on their list of problem
substances, an alarm sounds. If the system finds a suspicious substance, a red
light shines and the substance name appears on a video screen. The process takes
about seven seconds.
The Sentinel also includes a
metal detector, so travelers don�t have to pass through two
checkpoints.
The systems are so sensitive, they can
detect a few parts per trillion of explosives or drugs, microscopic traces which
cling to clothes and skin even when people think they�re
clean.
�If you emptied a packet of sugar into an
Olympic-sized swimming pool and then mixed that up, this thing is the equivalent
of drawing in that much water and detecting one of those particles of sugar,�
said Sandia spokesman John German.
The systems�
sensitivity is two-edged � they can find explosives previously thought
undetectable, but they raise the specter of false positive
results.
Customs spokesman Bill Anthony told a story
about a machine he once tried out that scanned money for traces of drugs, but
delivered instead a lesson on how many hands your dollar bills probably pass
through in a week.
�We took some of our
commissioner�s money � we got it out of a cash machine � it showed traces of
drugs. I put my money through. And mine all showed up with drugs,� he said.
From Bags to People
The FAA and Customs already use similar
products from Barringer and ITI to scan baggage. Barringer has a wand which
security officers wave past a bag, collecting an air sample which gets analyzed
for dangerous substances. ITI has an analyzer which uses a cloth wiped over a
bag, and they recently debuted a boarding-pass scanner which checks the passes
for traces of substances.
�We have the technology to
use on the bags. We�re looking at it for scanning passengers,� Trexler
said.
Customs uses dogs to sniff for drugs, but
unless they�re Lassie, they can�t tell their handlers what drug they�re
sniffing. The agency also uses a controversial X-ray system, which has come
under fire for essentially making naked pictures of
people.
�It also makes them look kind of fat,�
Anthony said.
Wait and
See
Both agencies said they�re excited by the
Sentinel and the Entryscan, though they said the systems would have to go
through extensive testing before they decided to buy any.
�The concept of this device sounds very good,�
Anthony said.
Airlines were more skeptical. The
seven seconds necessary to pass through a Sentinel can feel like an eternity to
people waiting in a long airport line, and that worries airlines. Though the FAA
mandates what equipment is used to screen people at airport gates, airlines help
foot the bill.
�The equipment tends to be a bit slow
� and you see long lines right now at airport security,� said Southwest Airlines
spokeswoman Linda Rutherford. Walkthrough systems are also �very, very
expensive� right now, she said.
Wood said the
Sentinel would probably be used to scan only selected people � though he said
two units together can handle most checkpoints.
�We
think we�re right at that point where it can be used for everyone,� he
said.
.
" I believe that every individual is naturally entitled to do
as
he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as
it in no
way interferes with any other men's rights." - Abraham
Lincoln
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