Authors: Ta-Hsuan Ong,* Alexandra Wrobel, Ted Mendum, Geoff Geurtsen, Jason Jong, Alla Ostrinskaya, Roderick Kunz

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MITLL) has a program supported by the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) Detection Canine Program to collect vapor measurements in support of canine detection of explosives. MITLL has developed a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer coupled with ambient ionization that is capable of real-time vapor detection with detection limits reaching the part-per-quadrillion range (10-15), such sensitivity is several orders of magnitude below the saturated vapor pressure of many explosives. Vapor ionization is conducted using a DC corona or using an atmospheric flow tube ionization (AFT) source developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The instrument is transportable to field locations for accessing explosive devices and for collaborative activities with canine teams. There have been multiple activities taken under the guidance of DHS S&T, , such as assisting the development of an HMTD training aid, collecting verification measurements during canine training, measuring the vapor concentration of explosive devices, and verifying the training aids that are in use by explosive-detection canine teams.
With the experience gained at MITLL, DHS S&T is interested in standardizing the measurement of non-detonable, alternative, training aids for canine detection of explosives. These types of training aids are available from multiple vendors formulated using different design approaches. However, there is currently no consensus approach for verifying the composition of these aids, leading to a market that provides no comparative quality-control data to the end-users. This lack of assurance has contributed, in part, to a reluctance to use these training aids despite their safety benefits. This gap poses a potential risk to the quality of canine search performance. An industry-consensus method to verify the composition of training aids will help end-users to better compare products and select only those that are the most suitable to their needs.
To seek feedback on reaching a consensus industry standard, multiple workshops have been hosted with members of the scientific community, the vendor community, and the operational end-users. Feedback from these workshops have led to a set of action items for Standards development. Activities have been initiated with The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science Dogs and Sensors Subcommittee (OSAC D&S) to publish a set of standards that outlines (1) the verification process, (2) chemical measurement requirements, and (3) canine trial testing requirements. Other recommendations include developing educational tools to assist end-users with product selection, means to advocate community adoption of the Standards, and the development of new scientific tools and experiments.