RFID for Chemical Monitoring - Keeping labs safer

... Laboratory chemicals with dated shelf lives can become dangerous if not carefully monitored. Paul Ewing and other researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a special storage cabinet system to enhance inventory and tracking of such chemicals and other similar high-risk assets through an antenna-based passive radio-frequency identification tag technology. The "smart cabinet" will track the placement of laboratory chemicals used in a typical research environment inside a small enclosed storage area.

The cabinet uses special shelves that have radio frequency reader capability for constant monitoring of placement and removal of chemicals. Changes are recorded in a computer database, and discrepancies are reported to designated personnel through electronic mail or pager. This eliminates the need for physical inventories. [Contact: Fred Strohl; (865) 574-4165; strohlhf@ornl.gov]