Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, offers a selection of handheld analytical instruments that is now among the industry's most diverse, serving applications ranging from airport security and consumer product testing to supply chain integrity and industrial hygiene. The company continues to build on its strategy of translating analytical technologies proven in the lab into handheld instruments for use in the field. 

"Increasing global trade and travel, interconnected supply chains and increasing environmental and consumer product safety awareness have created a demand for technology that is mobile, easily deployed and accurate," said Greg Herrema, senior vice president and president, Analytical Instruments, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Our handheld analytical instruments align perfectly with our company's mission. We enable customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer through our depth of capabilities in handheld technology, which impact everything from quality control in pharmaceuticals to air and water quality testing and the safety of the traveling public." 

The company's handheld portfolio, marketed under the Thermo Scientific brand, features a broad range of technologies, each suited for unique screening applications. For example: 

• Nine out of the ten largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide rely on the award-winning Thermo Scientific TruScan to ensure the integrity of raw materials delivered to the loading dock and to authenticate finished products. One of the industry's largest professional organizations, the Convention on Pharmaceutical Ingredients (CPhI), recently presented its Gold Innovation award to the company for the TruScan^® technology. Using Raman spectroscopy, TruScan provides rapid and reliable identification of pharmaceutical materials and has been used extensively to combat counterfeit drug trafficking. 
• FirstDefender® (Raman) and TruDefender^TM FT (FTIR) platforms are widely deployed by military and civilian first responders for identification of unknown chemicals including explosives, narcotics, and toxic industrial chemicals. The company recently completed shipment of an order from the U.S. Department of Defense for more than 270 Thermo Scientific FirstDefender RMX instruments. 
• Thermo Scientific RadEye, a pocket-sized personal radiation monitor, is used by emergency services and law enforcement personnel around the world to protect against potential terrorist activity and to avoid unintentional exposure to radiation.  
• The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration recently approved Personal Dust Monitors (PDMs) as the sole method for quantifying exposure to coal dust to protect miners from the devastating effects of lung disease. These monitors protect miners by ensuring that the shift-average respiratory exposure does not exceed regulatory limits. The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services recently recognized the PDM instrument as a finalist in its HHSinnovates Awards program. 
• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Europe's PROSAFE use handheld Niton XL3t XRF analyzers, which are based on X-ray fluorescence technology, for the non-destructive screening of materials for harmful elements, including lead and cadmium in toys and children's jewelry. Recent product recalls in the U.S. have been based, in part, on improvements in this technology, providing additional protection for families with young children.  
• The Thermo Scientific Star line of handheld meters provides fast and accurate measurements of pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen to ensure the safety of fluoride levels in drinking water or during the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, to measure dissolved oxygen levels which are critical to maintaining fish and marine life. 

Thermo Fisher is committed to investing in R&D to migrate laboratory-based analytical methods into the field, delivering handheld technology and instruments capable of solving the most difficult analytical challenges. 

For more detailed information about Thermo Scientific handheld analytical instruments, visit www.thermoscientific.com.