ABSTRACT
During the past 10 years, IMS has become recognized and accepted within the larger community of analytical scientists, and this recognition can be seen in the number of symposia at national and international conferences and in the number of IMS articles in chemistry, biochemistry, and physics journals. Acceptance is also apparent in invited articles or reviews in prominent analytical chemistry journals and in A-page articles in Analytical Chemistry. Such high visibility is suggestive of a level of interest in IMS that had not existed before the year 2000. This can be attributed to a growing awareness that IMS analyzers are the core technology to counter increased civilian vulnerability to unconventional warfare through their use in military preparedness, aviation security, and explosives detection.
