As concerns mount about terrorist use of chemical weapons, one company has unveiled a database that will enable firefighters and other first responders to identify unknown substances.
ITT Corp.’s DOMAIN/Chemical database includes more than 1,300 industrial chemicals as well as the physical properties and requirements for storage and handling of about 4,000 such substances and the uses of more than 300 types of related equipment, according to a company statement.
Emergency workers enter key words into the database describing potentially harmful chemicals they encounter. If a first responder, for example, finds labeled jars of chemicals, he can search the names on a laptop computer and a description of the substance pops up, along with a list of health hazards and handling instructions, said Claudia Randolph, vice president for ITT’s national security technology applications.
In the absence of labels, first responders can use keywords such as “yellow liquid” to describe the chemical, and a list of possibilities appears on the screen, she said. It also tells them what protective gear they need to guard against the substance.
The database, however, has limitations, as many chemicals could fit such a description and jars could be mislabeled. Randolph concedes these shortcomings, and said that not every firefighter would be equipped with a laptop linked to the database. Personnel with some degree of training in identifying hazardous materials would likely use the technology, she said.
“It’s not the sort of thing one fire company would have,” she said. “It’s the sort of thing the county of Fairfax [Va.] would have.”
Troops in Iraq have used the database after discovering stashes of chemicals in private homes, she said. Those substances could have simply belonged to a local physician or pharmacist. But in some instances the materials may be intended for a bomb maker, she said.
“Chemistry is a basic part of every economy. But there are times when chemicals are used to build bombs, and that’s what we need to understand and differentiate,” she said.
Some agencies within the Defense Department have purchased the technology and the firm has sold around 50 licenses to use the database, Randolph said.