Handheld device can quickly detect liquid explosives, Wilmington firm claims

A Wilmington company says its handheld device can quickly detect liquid explosives such as those which terrorists may be attempting to smuggle onto airplanes.

Ahura Safety Corp. chief executive Paul Kahn said his company has been selling the First Defender for about a year, to law enforcement agencies like the FBI and the New York City police. Kahn also said that the US Department of Homeland Security acquired one of the liquid containers a year ago, but has not yet decided whether to deploy it at airports.

Speaking during a visit to Ahura headquarters, US Rep. John Tierney of Salem criticized the Bush administration for not moving more quickly to deploy the First Defender and other security technologies at the nation's airports and seaports. "Members of Congress from both parties have been telling them that they've been getting their priorities wrong," said Tierney.

The $30,000 First Defender works by firing laser light through the side of a bottle. A spectroscope inside the device analyzes the reflected light spectrum, matching it against a database of about 2,500 chemical compounds. Kahn said the device would have detected the chemicals that terrorists in London were allegedly planning to mix on board several passenger planes to create an explosive compound that would have destroyed the planes in midair.
(By Hiawatha Bray, Globe staff)