RICHLAND, Wash. – The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed a new rapid, portable and inexpensive detection system that identifies personal exposures to toxic lead and other dangerous heavy metals. The device can provide an accurate blood sample measurement from a simple finger prick, which is particularly important when sampling children. PNNL’s portable analyzer system accurately detects lead and other toxic metals in blood as well as in urine and saliva. Results are as reliable as those of current state-of-the-art mass spectrometry systems many times its size. This new system provides a quicker, simpler and easier method of monitoring toxic metal exposures in high-risk populations, such as industrial workers, children and people living in polluted areas.
