A hand pump draws constant volume of ambient air through an absorbent paper disc mounted at the end of the pump via a special fitting. Toxic agents adhering to the paper are identified after exposure to one or more of eight reagents provided in the kit. The reagents produce a color change that is specific to each type of chemical agent. These reagents are stored in sealed glass vials until needed. The vials are broken in flexible plastic container which is designed to mix and pour off pre-determined volumes of reagents.
Liquid contamination is identified using the detection paper included in the kit.
The detection and identification capabilities are based on visible colorimetric chemical and biochemical reactions. It can also be used for the identification of these agents and provided a general estimate of their concentrations. The TDCC requires two minutes for each detection. A full detection sequence requires 30 minutes if there is no information known about the nature of the toxic substance.