Ministry of Defense of Ukraine conducted testing of modern environmental controls after demining is completed. The tests took place at the training and testing grounds of the UTTC, where the latest demining equipment was recently demonstrated.
Specialists from the Joint Center of Excellence for Mine Action, Civil Defense and Environmental Security conducted the verification using an MX908 mass spectrometer and a Serstech Arx Raman spectrometer. The results of the chemical analysis of the soil confirmed the absence of traces of explosive substances, which indicates the high efficiency of machine demining and its safety for the environment.
At the same time, TNT (TNT) residues were found after the explosion, despite the controlled conditions, at the location where the demonstration explosions were carried out.
“Such studies allow not only to confirm the fact of the absence of explosive objects, but also to ensure the ecological safety of soils. This is important for the cleaning of agricultural lands, because it affects the safe cultivation of agricultural products.” – stressed Colonel Yuriy Sytnyk, head of the Department of Environmental Safety of the Main Department of Mine Action, Civil Protection and Environmental Safety.
It is expected that such an approach will become the basis for the creation of national standards for demining quality control, especially in agricultural areas affected by hostilities.
The MX908 is a multi-functional portable mass spectrometer capable of detecting and identifying chemicals in real time. It will be used by military ecologists to detect both explosive and toxic substances.
Raman Serstech Arx is an analyzer that recognizes more than 2,200 chemical compounds in real time. Its database covers a wide range of explosives — military, industrial, and home-made, as well as precursors, oxidizers, and combat poisons of various effects: caustic, nerve-paralytic, asphyxiant, and hemotoxic.
