title: In situ determination of nerve agents in various matrices by portable capillary electropherograph with contactless conductivity detection.
abstract: Rapid, efficient and robust methods for sampling and extracting genuine nerve agents sarin, soman and VX were developed for analyzing these compounds on various solid matrices, such as concrete, tile, soil and vegetation. A portable capillary electrophoretic (CE) system with contactless conductometric detection was used for the in situ analysis of the extracted samples. A 7.5 mM MES/HIS-based separation electrolyte accomplished the analysis of target analytes in less than 5 min. The overall duration of the process including instrument start-up, sample extraction and analysis was less than 10 min, which is the fastest screening of nerve agents achieved with liquid phase separation methods to date. The procedure can easily be performed by a person in a protective suit and is therefore suitable for real-life applications. The CE results were validated by an independent GC-MS method and a satisfactory correlation was obtained. The use of a proper sampling strategy with two internal standards and "smart" data-processing software can overcome the low reproducibility of CE. This has a significant impact on the potential acceptance of portable CE instrumentation for the detection and analysis of genuine chemical warfare agents (CWA).
authors: Department of Chemistry, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia. petr.kuban@gmail.com
authors: Petr
authors: P
authors: Kubáň
authors: Andrus
authors: A
authors: Seiman
authors: Natalja
authors: N
authors: Makarõtševa
authors: Merike
authors: M
authors: Vaher
authors: Mihkel
authors: M
authors: Kaljurand
mesh_terms: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004355:Drug Stability; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D016014:Linear Models; D009946:Organothiophosphorus Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012524:Sarin / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012999:Soman / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013048:Specimen Handling
chemical_list: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D009946:Organothiophosphorus Compounds; D012524:Sarin; D012987:Soil; D012999:Soman; C009680:VX-agent