By DPA
Juelich (Germany) : German police are testing a new machine that can distinguish explosives from shampoo, offering hope to millions of travellers frustrated by EU airliner security rules.
The microwave device takes only about a second to assess what liquid or gel is contained in glass and plastic bottles and tubes. It mainly works by analysing how much water is in the mixture.
Safe fluids are generally 60 to 70 percent water.
Amid fears of suicide bombers, travellers are currently forced to discard most regular toiletries in their carry-on luggage if they have not already left them at home.
Drinks, soap and creams are only allowed in cabins in tiny, 100-millilitre bottles inside a resealable, one-litre plastic bag. The waste has proved enormous.
Kosta Schinarakis, spokesman for the Juelich Research Centre near the western German city of Aachen, said Monday: “It shows on the computer display what is in the bottle and exactly how dangerous it is”.
The device, about 50 centimetres tall, can also spot inflammable fluids and certain sorts of acids.
EU police fear that terrorists could take suitable ingredients into an airliner toilet, mix up a bomb and use it to either down a plane or hijack it.
Germany’s interior ministry has assigned federal police to test the machines, of which only 10 have been made so far. Juelich has a special lab that designs sensors.
Schinarakis said the device would be easy to manufacture, but he could not suggest a price. Its sole inability was to “see” fluids in metal containers, which might have to remain banned.
But he warned that it could take a while for all 27 EU nations and 150 airports to be convinced.