Public Works has posted plans for building a DIY Spectrometer to allow people to detect toxins and pollutants in their environment. The spectrometer is based on fluorescence spectrometry. There are three versions

• USB desktop spectrometer kit
• Smartphone spectrometer kit
• Foldable mini-spectrometer kit.

Kits are for sale too ranging from $10 to $50. These spectrometers all work with Spectral Workbench which is open source software available on GitHub. The Spectral Workbench community also operates an open database of spectra to help identify compounds.