CQ HOMELAND SECURITY – TECHNOLOGY

June 4, 2007 – 6:07 p.m.

DHS Wants Cell Phones to Detect Chemical, Radioactive Material
By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff


American cell phones can already check e-mail, surf the Internet and store music, but they could have a new set of features in coming years: the Department of Homeland Security wants them to sense biological, chemical and radioactive material.

Putting hazardous material sensors in commercial cell phones has been discussed in scientific circles for years, according to researchers in the field. More recently, the idea gained support among government agencies, and DHS said publicly in May that it wants businesses to start coming up with proposals.

At the 2007 DHS Science and Technology Stakeholders Conference, S&T Director of Innovation Roger McGinnis outlined how the system could work. Cell phone sensors would continually test the air for harmful compounds and digitally relay any information to a central monitoring system if they find anything amiss.

[b]“It’s a great way to get millions of detectors out there,â€