Explosives trace detectors (ETD) are security equipment able to detect explosives of small magnitude. The detection can be done by sniffing vapors as in an explosive vapor detector or by sampling traces of particulates or by utilizing both methods depending on the scenario. Most explosive detectors in the market today can detect both vapors and particles of explosives. Devices similar to ETDs are also used to detect narcotics. The equipment is used mainly in airports and other vulnerable areas considered susceptible to acts of unlawful interference.
Famous quotes containing the word trace:
“What terrible questions we are learning to ask! The former men believed in magic, by which temples, cities, and men were swallowed up, and all trace of them gone. We are coming on the secret of a magic which sweeps out of men’s minds all vestige of theism and beliefs which they and their fathers held and were framed upon.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)