Hand swabs at TIA

TAMPA - You empty your pockets, take off your shoes, and unpack your laptop, all to go through airport security and get safely on your plane.

Now, Tampa International Airport is adding one more step to the process: hand swabs that promise to detect trace amounts of explosives.

TIA already uses similar technology to check bags.

Screeners use a small, cotton cloth to swab a passenger's hand, and then put the cloth into a machine that is sensitive to chemicals used in explosions.

Screeners use a different cloth for each person.

The Transportation Security Administration has been using the swabs since 2008; but they just expanded its use to include random checks of people at gates or in lines.