A comparison of decontamination effects of commercially available detergents in rats pre-exposed to topical sulphur mustard.
OBJECTIVE
The genotoxic vesicant sulphur mustard [bis-2-(chloroethyl)sulphide] is a chemical warfare agent which is easily available due to its relatively simple synthesis. Thus, sulphur mustard is a potential agent for mass contamination. In this study, we focused on sulphur mustard toxicity and decontamination in a rat model using commercially available detergent mixtures for dermal decontamination.


METHODS
Male Wistar rats were percutaneously treated with sulphur mustard and subjected to wet decontamination 2 min postexposure. Commercially produced detergents Neodekont™, Argos™, Dermogel™ and FloraFree™ were tested for their decontamination efficacy against an exposed group and their protective ratios determined.


CONCLUSIONS
The results showed that all tested detergent solutions produced an increase in the median lethal dose [LD(50) = 9.83 (5.87-13.63) mg·kg(-1)] in comparison to controls, which led to increased survival of experimental animals. In general, all tested detergents provided modest decontamination efficacy (PR = 2.0-5.7). The highest protective ratio (5.7) was consistently achieved with Argos™. Accordingly, Argos™ should be considered in further investigation of mass casualty decontamination.
Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. misik@pmfhk.cz
Jan
J
Misik
Petr
P
Jost
Ruzena
R
Pavlikova
Eva
E
Vodakova
Jiri
J
Cabal
Kamil
K
Kuca
D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000818:Animals; D002100:Cachexia / Q000139:chemically induced; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D003666:Decontamination / Q000379:methods*; D003902:Detergents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000139:chemically induced; D006417:Hematuria / Q000139:chemically induced; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008297:Male; D009151:Mustard Gas / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D012912:Sneezing / Q000187:drug effects
D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D003902:Detergents; D009151:Mustard Gas