Real-Time Detection of Hazardous Dusts from Narcotics and Explosives using Single-Particle Mass Spectrometry

Hazardous dusts present significant risks to human health and safety, not only in terms of air pollution but also in the event of accidents or during the illicit transportation and handling of drugs and explosives. The current opioid crisis in the United States has highlighted the need for technologies capable of detecting such dusts in real-time. The HazarDust project aims to address this gap by developing technologies that incorporate pulsed particle sampling, MS-detection, and real-time pattern recognition.
The core detection technology is single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS), which can chemically characterize individual particles in real time (Passig and Zimmermann, 2021). By adapting SPMS technology to various narcotics and explosives, we have successfully identified the mass spectral signatures of medicals and drugs, overcoming interference from other particle types in complex environments (Hakkim et al., 2024).
While SPMS instruments work in-situ, the complex data evaluation typically occurs offline, hindering on-line screening and real-time risk assessment. We are developing real-time software with data acquisition, prepro-cessing, screening, clustering, and machine learning algorithms for immediate emergency response (Wang et al., 2024).
We present experiments involving particle re-dispersion with gas pulses and aerosol enrichment for direct sam-pling of dust residues from surfaces. These experiments have successfully identified drugs in parcels at the DHL Hub Leipzig and detected drug and tablet residues in contaminated surfaces and floors of a former illicit drug laboratory in real-time.

References
Hakkim, H. et al. (2024), under review
J. Passig and R. Zimmermann, (2021) Wiley‐VCH, ISBN: 9783527335107
Wang, G. et al. (2024) Atmos. Meas. Tech. 17.