Contraband Sniffers

To date, the most successful detector of contraband (including illegal drugs) has always been canine. However, it is not common knowledge that these mammalian drug sniffers only operate at their best up to about 150 sniffs per day (Source: “Carrots and Sticks: Principles of Animal Training” by Paul McGreevy and Robert Boakes). Their limited ability, while certainly valuable, is not enough for thorough monitoring of high-traffic areas. In contrast to the canine method, small, low-cost, MEMS-based sensors can be ubiquitously and surreptitiously deployed without the perpetrator having any awareness of them.

Contraband drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and cannabis give off certain marker chemicals – vapors that can even penetrate plastic over time. For heroin, these include acetone and acetic acid. For cocaine, markers include ether, acetone, methyl benzoate, and for cannabis, caryophyllene and pinene. NevadaNano’s Self-Sensing Array^TM technology has proven its ability to detect acetone and with training (programming the analysis algorithm), will also detect ether, methyl benzoate, caryophyllene and pinene.