What can the FirstDefender be used to identify and what can it not identify?

Applies to: Chemical and Gas FirstDefender (Raman) | Tickets Solved: 0 | Rank: 1

The FirstDefender can identify chemicals in many different forms and has thousands of unique spectral signatures in its library. The number of identifiable compounds depends on which software version the instrument is using. For example, version 2.7.0 has 10152 compounds in the library while version 2.7.2 has 11310 compounds in the library. A partial list of the types of compounds it can identify is: Explosives Solids Liquids Gels Pastes Organic compounds including petroleum products, pesticides, fertilizers, plastics, industrial plant materials, drugs both legal and illicit, chemical weapons, and “white powders” Inorganic compounds including mineral acids, inorganic oxides, some ionic compounds, and crystalline semi-metals Substances in water. A partial list of some of the items the FirstDefender cannot identify is: Darkly colored materials, Highly fluorescent materials including some natural products, some brightly colored materials, dye-coated materials, brake fluid, ketchup, detergent, some types of diesel, and some cutting agents used in heroin Most pure metals and elemental substances from the periodic table, Biological material (often fluorescent and a complex mixture of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, etc) Radiation Gases Vapors. In addition, the FirstDefender does not work well for trace detection or with highly diluted substances.

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Keywords: list, chemicals, organic, inorganic, element, number, how much