The global company, SCIEX, leaders in the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry industry has recently written about the work reviewed in a recent paper from scientists working at the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA). They noted the importance of protecting a country’s border from the war on drugs and terror is a 24/7 task 366 days a year (2016 is a leap year). Sciex noted that Mass Spectrometry is rapidly becoming the instrument of choice for border agencies throughout the world when it comes to explosive trace detection and forensic drug compounds.
The technology employed in this study was a SCIEX API 3200™ System Mass Spectrometer configured as a Mass Spec Scentinel system: a thermal desorption and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source The unique feature of this technique is that it is a chromatography-free analytical solution. There is no need for intensive sample prep or LC gradient, the sample is introduced to the source and produces a response in a very short period. The findings of this evaluation concluded that,“The direct analysis by mass spectrometry using the Scentinel transformed the traditional day-long quantification analysis of solvent extraction chromatography to minutes, eliminated sample loss, and allowed the transfer efficiency to be quantified for every test surface used.”
The Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) requirement for testing explosives detectors is just one such application that could be carried out using this configuration.