Clandestine laboratories produce illegal drugs through the chemical synthesis of precursors, reagents and solvents. These laboratories are not only illegal in their operations, but these processes are extremely dangerous because of the hazardous chemicals used for the extraction of the product, as well as the by-products and residues produced. This produces a hazard in operations due to the explosive and safety nature of these materials, and these facilities pose a safety hazard for the government investigative agencies, particularly policing agencies that must enter these facilities. Pacific Advanced Technology (PAT) has developed a field portable infrared imaging spectrometer technology (Image Multi-spectral Sensing or IMSS) for defense related applications such as the detection, analysis and warning of numerous targets from missile plumes to chemical warfare agents. PAT proposes to utilize this new IMSS technology and apply it to hazardous chemical vapor detection and analysis. This technology can provide a small, hand held camera that can detect and analyze gases and determine their chemical species. PAT proposes to analyze and test the IMSS technology during the Phase I effort and fabricate a chemical detection camera during the Phase II program. An inexpensive, small, lightweight, portable, hand held "instrument" that could remotely detect and classify hazardous chemicals and vapors would be a tremendous asset to law enforcement agencies in the detection and enforcement actions against clandestine drug labs. Such a camera would also be a significant improvement in chemical detection for the petrochemical industry where fugitive gas leaks are a problem due to both the environmental impacts and lost product costs.
