Which device is a portable instrument that can identify many materials by comparing samples to a library?

• A. Dippers
• B. The DR 900
• C. Alpha samplers
• D. HAZMATID Elite

Answer: (D)

Identifying a wide range of unknown materials on the spot by comparing what you measure to a library of known substances is what a portable spectroscopic identification device is all about. The HAZMATID Elite is built for this purpose: it’s a handheld instrument that analyzes a sample and then matches the obtained spectrum to a built-in (or cloud) library of reference spectra to name the substance. This library-matching capability is what lets it identify many different materials quickly in the field, which is essential for hazmat response.

Dippers, by contrast, are simple sampling tools used to collect material for later laboratory analysis—they don’t identify substances on-site. The DR 900 and Alpha samplers are different kinds of field instruments that don’t primarily rely on comparing spectra to a broad library to identify a wide range of unknown materials.