Method and system for detection of contaminants in mail

A method for testing a tray of mail for a contaminant comprising the steps of:

• moving the tray of mail along a transport path;
• decelerating the tray of mail to compress the mail in the tray, the compression causing matter contained within and on the mail in the tray to become airborne into a surrounding environment of the tray of mail;
• collecting a sample from the surrounding environment of the tray of mail;
• and
• analyzing the sample from the surrounding environment to determine if a contaminant may be present.

A system for testing a tray of mailpieces for a contaminant comprising:

• a test chamber;
• a transport path to transport the tray of mailpieces through the test chamber;
• a stop member located along the transport path;
• and
• a detection system to collect and analyze a sample taken from within the test chamber,
• wherein the tray of mailpieces is decelerated inside the test chamber by making contact with the stop member, the deceleration causing the mailpieces to compress thereby causing matter contained within and on the mailpieces in the tray to become airborne inside the test chamber, and the detection system collects a sample from inside the test chamber and analyzes the sample to determine if a contaminant may be present in the matter contained within and on the mailpieces.