Hand Swabs

It seems painless and quick. Personally, if I have been close enough to explosives to have residue on my hands, I'd like to know. I'm not sure how I could explain it though, other than to go over everything I did and everywhere I went.

I used to fly each week and one airport routinely checked all luggage for residue and sometimes checked hands as well. Can't remember which one it was but it's just a matter of running a cloth over the bag or hand. Way less effort than taking off my shoes to go through security.

My friend who I just traveled with had to do this twice, once on the way and once on the way back. It took seconds to do.

I agree with this additional security measure. A slight inconvenience. Anything that keeps us safe.

I agree with this additional security measure. A slight inconvenience. Anything that keeps us safe.

I agree this seems like a quick and harmless way to add an extra layer of security. My problem is that my husband is a bomb dog handler and regularly handles explosives...I better find out if the residue washes off easily.

Public budgets are finite, which means that every dollar spend on these swabs is a dollar not spend on other measures. The effectiveness of such measures is therefore crucial.

Even if these test strip methods (as opposed to proper forensic LC/MS methods) were really be sensitive enough to thwart hand washing and simultaneously specific enough not to produce masses of false positives, any terrorist group could easily separate the "explosive handlers" from the "fliers." So it would at best be effective against lone individuals.

Oh, great, Mark. You've just given the terrorists the key! Now they'll win.

Everyone should make sure they don't do any dynamite fishing for a few days before they travel.

My nephew was pulled from the line, inspected and detected, because he was carrying 5 lbs of bacon. I figure it was the nitrates/nitrites that set off the scanners. They swabbed the bag with the bacon, and sent it through xray a few times, before deciding, yep, it's bacon.

We want to believe there's a magic, non-invasive test. Ding ding ding, there's a terrorist-down the chute he goes. Everybody's safe.

LOL Karen! Reminds me of when I went from LA to Boston for Thanksgiving. I'd been to Italy a few weeks before and bought my mom some Pecorino Toscano, plus I bring her back this Mexican cheese she likes that she can't get in MA. Also brought my dad some armenian coffee I can get here at an Int'l store that he loves. They swabbed it all. I was joking with the security guy, asking him what the purpose was and he said basically it had the same affect as having a dog sniff it, that they just wanted to make SURE it was really cheese and coffee. I laughed and offered to open it and give him some, lol. Anyway it was humorous and not really an inconvenience at all.

Wow, that must've been some pretty special bacon to haul it airborne. I wanna go to holiday dinner at his house next year.

Tests like this do not bother me,, I would be happy to stick my hand out.

Some of these machines are so sensitive, heart patients taking nitroglycerin pills have been known to test positive.

Hand swabbing seems to have increased in popularity following the last incident over the Christmas holidays, but I'm not sure if it's used on all flights or just those to the U.S.?

My hands were checked prior to a flight I took in January to the U.S. I have another flight booked in March (within Canada), so it will be interesting to see if the same methods will be used.

Ken, what the article states is that hand swabbing will be increased at U.S. airports regardless of where the passenger is going.

Portable machines will be introduced and people will be "randomly" chosen both while waiting in the security line and at the gates.

So, it sounds like the Christmas bomber shouldn't have had his HANDS swabbed...

My friend got swabbed at Heathrow and we were heading to Montreal.

Isn't this yet another admission by the TSA that the security check we go through is USELESS???? If it were effective why would we need additional screening????

Hmmm...

Just more smoke & mirrors from TSA in an effort to convince someone out there that they are actually doing something "useful".