Battery Detector Dog

Mobile phones are becoming ever more numerous inside prisons and other detention centres  –  so much so that there is now a market for such devices. Small and flat, many mobile phones can be difficult to locate using conventional methods of detection.

Prison inmates are known to have used their illegally obtained mobile phones to direct criminal activities outside of the prison. Like other objects the mobile phone has its own odour identity and dogs may be trained to locate these devices. Lithium-ion batteries contain a number of solvents. The two that have distinct odours are Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC) and Diethyl Carbonate (DEC)  –  DMC does metabolise into Methanol. Too much exposure and inhalation of methanol odour can cause health problems.

The odour expelled by Lithium-ion batteries often resembles that of nail varnish remover or polish and it is easily detectable by the trained dog.