Laboratory analysis of chemical warfare agents, adducts, and metabolites in biomedical samples

Laboratory analysis of chemical warfare agents, adducts, and metabolites in biomedical samples

van der Schans, M.J.

R.C. Gupta, (editor)

2020

Chemical warfare agents (CWAs) are the most toxic compounds that have ever been produced. In order to develop medical countermeasures against the effects of these agents, analytical procedures to analyze these agents in their intact form in biological matrices are essential for a better understanding of the toxicological process. Although the production, stockpiling, and use of CWAs is forbidden as stated in the Chemical Weapon Convention, the use of these weapons still occurs. Verification of exposure to CWA is therefore an important aspect in the further forensic process. Most of the analytical methodologies rely on instrumental analysis techniques like liquid and gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry. The progress in instrument development has been tremendous in the last decades. Especially, analyses based on mass spectrometry are now more or less routine. However, analyses of chemical warfare agents might need some additional requirements. For example, it might be necessary to measure an intact agent at extremely low concentrations, because only these levels are relevant in view of the high toxicity of the agents. In that case, the analytical configuration needs to be adapted to facilitate large-volume sample introduction. In this chapter, the methods for the bioanalysis of CWAs or their biomarkers are briefly described and in the case that the instrumentation for a particular analysis is more sophisticated than a standard configuration, it is discussed in more detail.

Chemical warfare agents
Nerve agents
Sulfur mustard
Gas chromatography
Liquid chromatography
Mass spectrometry

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:28df1a80-25f4-436c-9666-54fe971f670c

https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-819090-6.00056-8

952729

Academic Press

9780128190906

Handbook of Toxicology of Chemical Warfare Agents, 969-681 (Chapter 56)

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