Multi-Mission Chemical Threat Identification with FTIR

RedWave’s ThreatID is the most powerful portable chemical analyzer on the market today. ThreatID comes standard with more than 22,000 reference spectra including toxic industrial chemicals, narcotics (including fentanyl), pesticides, explosives, weapons of mass destruction (including 4th generation novichok reagents), and common consumer products.

ThreatID was purpose-built for emergency response as a fully waterproof and ruggedized chemical analyzer. Our large, 10” touch screen display facilitates viewing and usability even in level-A protection gear. ThreatID is simple to use, just turn it on and let the on-screen video tutorials and user prompts guide you through sample analysis. Our state-of-the-art mixture algorithms combined with our extensive library will help you identify the widest range of substances.

ThreatID goes beyond limited handheld analyzers with onboard tools such as pinch-to-zoom spectral manipulation, residual component analysis, functional group identification, and push-button data transmission capabilities.

In the event of an emergency, RedWave’s Reachback team is available around the clock (show 24/7/365 on the screen) to support and assist with software, hardware, and advanced spectral interpretation.

ThreatID is proudly made right here in the USA and our team members include core individuals who delivered the first portable FTIR chemical analyzers designed for first responders.

Learn more about RedWave and our ThreatID device by calling us at (888) 326-8186 (USA Only). Stay safe and we hope to hear from you soon.

WMD Agents Added to ThreatID Library Expansion for US Army DEVCOM

The great strengths of the ATR-FTIR technique for identifying chemicals are the technique’s analysis speed, sample handling simplicity, spectral measurement in the definitive chemical “fingerprint” region, and access to extensive spectral databases. The first three strengths are inherent to the FTIR technique; the latter strength is related to the importance and effort that the analyzer manufacturer places in developing and offering spectral libraries.

Our view at RedWave Technology is that our ThreatID FTIR chemical analyzer and our spectral database are like the proverbial hammer and nail, one is necessary for the other to get the job done. We also believe that a spectral database is never really completed, and should always be growing and advancing as new threats emerge. We also strongly believe that the analyzer provides actionable intelligence – threat toxicity and routes of action, threat mitigation, common uses, common names, and protective ensemble recommendations – based on the threat identification. For this reason, RedWave Technology invests significant time and resources in the continuing development of spectral libraries and database search enhancements.

Last week, Dr. David Schiering, RedWave Technology’s Chief Technical Officer, spent several days at the Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical and Biological Center in Maryland, our government’s R&D site for chemical and biological defense, recording the spectra of critical WMD agents including blister, nerve, and Fourth Generation Agents.

The infrared spectra of these highly toxic chemicals are now incorporated in a separate library in the ThreatID database and are available to our users. In addition to the more “common” agents, several Fourth Generation, also known as Novichoks or A-series agents, were measured and our WMD library now contains the IR spectra of these highly toxic, persistent agents.

This announcement is an example of RedWave Technology’s commitment to continue the enhancement and expansion of ThreatID’s spectral database, ThreatAssist As important as adding a library of chemical agents, we are continually upgrading the database with libraries in application areas outside of WMDs. Of particular relevance, and an area of focus is the development and enhancement of libraries that contain a range of both solid and liquid mixtures. With respect to mixtures, advanced algorithms for analyzing these more complicated samples are another area of concentrated development here at RedWave.

The ThreatID system now comes standard with a database containing over 12,000 spectra of explosives, pesticides, TICs, TIMs, and forensic drugs, and is continually growing. We have recently updated the consumer products, powders, and common household goods libraries.   As threats change, we rapidly add them to our libraries and, for example, the ThreatID database now contains an advanced opiate spectral library. Furthermore, ThreatID users can purchase third-party IR spectral libraries, which can add up to an additional 40,000 spectra to the overall database. One of ThreatID’s advantages over handheld Raman and IR hazmat analyzers is that its spacious storage enables 50,000 reference spectra to be contained on-board. This is greater than any other commercial spectroscopic hazmat analyzer currently available.

The continual development and expansion of ThreatID spectral libraries is another example of RedWave Technology’s unwavering commitment to developing the best hazmat analyzers and to providing support that matches the demanding requirements of the hazmat response community.

Image References:

Main Title – New Jersey National Guard Hazmat by Mark C. Olsen

1. “With Science We Defend” – U.S Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center

Introducing ThreatID for FTIR Chemical Identification


Over the past few years, we continually reached out to teams of first responders to understand how they are dealing with today’s chemical threats. We heard that the first hardened FTIR chemical analyzer for hazmat response, HazmatID, which we developed years ago while part of SensIR Technologies, is still held in high regard. We also heard that Smiths Detection’s follow-on product HazmatID 360, has great capabilities, but is too large and bulky. The Hazmat ID 360 has since been discontinued, leaving first responders no option for a case-mounted analyzer, which many teams prefer over handheld systems.

I love the capabilities of the Hazmat ID 360, but it’s too big and bulky and Smiths has discontinued it.
– Hazmat Tech

With this information in mind, key technical members of the original development team at SensIR Technologies reunited at RedWave Technology and developed the ThreatID, a state-of-the-art FTIR chemical threat analyzer for both warm and hot zone applications. The ThreatID is similar in form factor to HazmatID, but is smaller, lighter, faster, and has advanced capabilities that are a direct response to what responders told us they need today. Ergonomic and performance enhancements are combined with the most important spectroscopy capabilities for identifying unknown chemicals such as residual search, mixture analysis, functional group classification, and rapid comparison of unknown samples spectra to extensive on-board spectral reference databases. Many new, useful features are incorporated such as automated water subtraction, GHS chemical information for common chemicals, push-button data export via email, and rapid, simplified access to search Google, WISER, PubChem, and NIOSH® databases.

A common issue mentioned by many hazmat groups with whom we spoke revolved around data handling and getting information from the device into the hands of decision-makers. ThreatID achieves this with a simplified, push-button email feature that automatically gathers and sends all relevant information including spectra, library hits, images, and final report. Additional support can be accessed through the TeamViewer application, which allows ThreatID users to remotely communicate with additional team members or for reachback support. Furthermore, Redwave’s ThreatAssist support personnel provide a 24/7 reachback service to help with expert chemical analysis assistance.