Detection of Toxic Industrial Compounds and Chemical Warfare Agent Simulants in Commercial Bottles

We report our initial efforts to use two portable Raman systems R-3000 HR with a fiber optic probe for detection and identification of various types of Toxic Chemical Compounds (TIC) including benzene, toluene, dichloromethane, nitric acid and also Chemical Warfare Agents Simulants (CWAS) as mixtures of DMMP/H2O in several commercial bottles: green, brown, clear glass bottles, including plastic water bottles. Experiments were carried out using 532 nm and 785 nm lasers as excitation sources, varying the integration time and laser power. At 532 nm we detection to was achieved as low as 5% (w/v) of mix of DMMP/H2O in clear and green bottles but only 50% mixture in brown bottles. In fact at 785 nm none of the mixtures could be detected in the green bottles.

Keywords: Raman, Toxic industrial compounds, CWAS and commercial bottles.