New Chemical Detection System is Developed

U.S. government scientists have created a chemical detection system that can be quickly deployed to provide swift protection at high-profile events.

Developed by Sandia National Laboratory researchers in Livermore, Calif., the device — the Rapidly Deployable Chemical Detection System, or RDCDS — was tested through late June and early July during Oakland A’s baseball games at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.

RDCDS is designed to provide broad, high-confidence coverage of more than 40 different chemicals using multiple overlapping detection technologies and live video, scientists said.

The beauty of this system is that it can be packaged and set up at a venue within a day’s notice, without having to sacrifice any of the robustness or features required by such a sophisticated system, said Ben Wu, a chemical engineer at Sandia who served as project manager for RDCDS. The bottom line is that it can help emergency responders save more lives in the event of a terrorist attack.

Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory — part of the U.S. Department of Energy.