ACRO shows a detector for peroxide-based explosives

Last summer, U.K authorities charged several Britons with trying to smuggle liquid explosives onboard U.S.-bound planes. The terrorists planned to have two or three suicide bombers board the planes, each carrying inocuous chemicals on board in a bottle. Then, in mid-flight, the chemicals would be mixed into an explosive and lethal cocktail. The detection of explosive liquids has been high on the list of security authorities ever since, and now Caesarea, Israel-based Acro, a specialist in explosive detection solutions, is launching its ACRO-P.E.T., the company’s patented peroxide explosive tester, in Europe. ACRO-P.E.T. identifies peroxide-based explosives, such as Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), which may appear in a variety of shapes and forms, including liquid explosives. Acro Chairman and CEO Gadi Aner said that “Acro’s revolutionary tester enables immediate verification of TATP, and is a critical weapon in the global war against terrorism.”

The company’s solution could not come soon enough. You may recall from your Chemistry 101 that peroxide-based explosives are almost impossible to identify since they do not contain nitro groups and, in addition, are colorless.