Digital devices used for detecting narcotic substances and explosives may soon help check adulterated foods, medicines, and fertilisers if an innovative feasibility study to incorporate additional features in the gadgets is successful.
Till now, digital tools like Fourier Transform (FT) Raman Spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) were being used by government agencies to detect narcotic drugs and explosives of organic origin.
"These tools are very sensitive and give results fast. The tests are non-destructive," Director and Chief Scientist at the Directorate of Forensic Science, M S Rao, said.
"Soon a feasibility study will be taken up by the directorate to use the tools to test adulterated food,spurious seeds, medicines, insecticides and fertilisers," he said.
The market is flooded with spurious seeds, insecticides, pesticides, fertilisers and often the poor farmer becomes a victim of exploitation, resulting in mass suicides.
"These machines can detect all items with organic origin like dal, rice, wheat, oil, fertilisers and medicines. They can determine any type of adulteration," Rao said.
"Scientists first set standards to create a data bank of good quality products. Once done, we can even then take these portable machines to villages and check with the supplies being delivered in rural areas," a forensic expert said.
FT Raman and FTIR Spectrometer are instruments that can be used to examine specimens, to detect the presence of target compounds and also to measure quantities of compounds and can be important analytical instruments in forensic probes.
The directorate is also planning to introduce forensic activism in villages to help them stop falling prey to spurious items.