Portable XRF and XRD for Security, Forensics, and Customs Applications

Portable XRF and XRD analyzers help law enforcement and customs agencies by providing fast, nondestructive chemical and compound quantitative analysis for a range of sample types, including powders, solids, and liquids. This information enables important decisions to be made in real-time, in the field.

Explosives and Narcotics Precursor Materials

Clandestine labs producing illicit drugs and explosives use a range of precursor materials, including pure phosphorous, iodine, magnesium, sulfur, and aluminum.

For investigators, it is important to be able to identify these materials on-site; however, the highly combustible nature of these materials means that they cannot be safely analyzed using technologies with a heat source. As a result, investigators may not have any knowledge about the composition of these materials until they receive results from the laboratory—a process that typically takes weeks to months.

Vanta portable XRF (pXRF) analyzers provide a nondestructive chemical analysis of these precursor materials in seconds. Without a heat source, pXRF is also safer than other techniques used on explosives. This method provides investigator and forensics professionals with important information on-site to speed up the decision-making process.

Analysis of Bullets and Gunshot Residue Vanta pXRF can be used directly on alloys to provide a quick alloy ID. This capability is particularly helpful for investigators since ammunition can vary significantly in the elemental composition of the projectile, which can lead to a substantial change in residue. Also, the casing or jacket alloys varies between countries and manufacturers. pXRF provides a rapid method for analysis of projectile and jacket alloy materials so investigators can differentiate the manufacturer. Gunshot residue (GSR) is commonly composed of barium, lead, and antimony as the major elemental ingredients. Vanta pXRF can be used to quickly and nondestructively screen materials believed to have been exposed to GSR (e.g., carpet, clothes, glass, and floors).

Precious Metals Precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium are attractive to criminal enterprises as they provide a vehicle for laundering money. There is also an element of anonymity with gold, which makes it difficult to track its origins. Vanta pXRF provides customs and law enforcement agencies with a rapid method for determining the composition of precious metals on-site. This includes coins, jewelry, bullion bars, and even consumer goods. It can also be used on powered material such as soil, gold, impregnated carbon, car catalyst mix, and recycled electronics, which may contain precious metals that would otherwise go undetected. This fast analysis can help to uncover attempts of unlawful organizations working to smuggle precious metals between borders.