JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE - EU SCIENCE - JRC trains Irish aviation authorities on Explosive Trace Detection

The civil aviation authority of Ireland has been cooperating with the JRC in the area of explosive trace detection (ETD) since 2018, and Irish civil aviation inspectors have attended hands-on trainings at the JRC site in Geel, Belgium. The test kit is currently used by the Irish civil aviation authority to verify the performance of ETD equipment deployed at Irish airports.

date: 10/08/2020

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Since its use became mandatory in 2014, ETD equipment has become an important component in screening processes in European airports, due to its low limit of detection and its low false alarm rate. It is important that ETD equipment, like all the screening equipment used in European airports, continues to perform at a high level during its operating lifetime.

Among testing materials developed by JRC in collaboration with other European Commission's services, a unique easy-to-use spray bottle was developed. This TATP spray bottle can be used to verify the detection capabilities of ETD equipment as well as of explosive detection dogs. Ireland’s National Police and Security Service (An Garda) uses the TATP spray to train and verify the detection capability of ETD.