Hand-held Instrument To Detect Public Health And Safety Threats Analytical Chemistry

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 31 Aug 2006 - 2:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions

Researchers are describing development of a shoebox-sized, handheld mass spectrometer capable of detecting minute amounts of chemical compounds in the environment. Among them are the peroxides believed involved in concerns about the safety of passenger jets early in August and other toxic and dangerous compounds.

R. Graham Cooks, Zheng Ouyang and colleagues describe the long-sought portable mass spectrometer, named the Mini 10, in a report scheduled for the Sept. 15 issue of the ACS journal, Analytical Chemistry. Traditional mass spectrometers -- mainstays in identifying unknown chemical compounds -- are large, delicate laboratory instruments. Rugged and portable, the Mini 10 weighs about 22 pounds -- 30 times less than a conventional mass spectrometer -- and uses about as much battery power as a laptop computer.

"This instrument has evolved from a decade-long experimental and simulation program in mass spectrometer miniaturization," according to the Analytical Chemistry report. The Mini 10 can perform chemical analysis while being carried and detects traces of chemical compounds quickly and accurately. "These characteristics are especially applicable in public safety, environmental protection and industrial process monitoring," the report adds.

ARTICLE #2: "Handheld Rectilinear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer"

DOWNLOAD PDF:
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/pdf/ac061144k.pdf

DOWNLOAD HTML:
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/html/ac061144k.html

CONTACT:

R. Graham Cooks, Ph.D.
Purdue University
Email: cooks@purdue.edu

----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------

The American Chemical Society -- the world's largest scientific society -- is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

The information in this press package is intended for your personal use in news gathering and reporting and should not be distributed to others. Anyone using advance ACS News Service Weekly Press Package information for stocks or securities dealing may be guilty of insider trading under the federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

To download manuscripts and images, please click on the links provided with each item. Please cite the individual journal, or the American Chemical Society, as the source of this information.

PressPac Archive: http://www.chemistry.org/news/presspac.html

The American Chemical Society (ACS) News Service PressPac is your access point for discoveries in fields ranging from astronomy to zoology, which are reported in the 34 peer-reviewed journals of the American Chemical Society. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society. Chemistry is the science that transforms lives, and these news alerts are from the leading edge of that science at ACS headquarters.

ACS News Service Weekly PressPac -- August 23, 2006

Contact: Michael Woods
American Chemical Society