picogram quantities of organic substances were detected in a mass spectrometer by focusing on one characteristic peak (6, 7). Furthermore, it has been found that in the negative ionization mode, at an electron energy of 6 eV at m / e 46, there are no measurable peaks derived from other organic compounds. This is particularly true for substances which could be expected to be found in travelers' baggage-i.e., ethyl alcohol. There is also no measurable contribution at m / e 46 due to the isotope peaks of COz or the NOz peak from air because negative ionization of C 0 2 and NO? results in dissociative electron capture forming an 0-anion (8,9).A proposed TNT detector could be a small mass analyzer of high ion transmission, focused on mje 46, and adjusted for maximum sensitivity at an electron energy of 6 eV. In many (6) V. L. Talrose, G. D. Tantsyrev, and V. I. Gorshkov, J. A n d .