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Highly toxic organophosphorous nerve agents (OPAs) have been used in several armed conflicts and terror attacks in the last few decades. A new method for retrospective determination of alkyl methylphosphonic acid (AMPA) metabolites in urine after exposure to VX, GB and GF nerve agents was developed. This method enables a rapid, sensitive and selective determination of trace levels of the nerve agent biomarkers ethyl methylphosphonic acid (EMPA), isopropyl methylphosphonic acid (IMPA) and cyclohexyl methylphosphonic acid (CMPA) in urine. The new technique involves a unique combination of two solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges: a Ba/Ag/H cartridge for urine interference removal, and a ZrO2 cartridge for selective reconstitution and enrichment of the AMPAs. Extraction of AMPAs from the ZrO2 cartridge was accomplished with a 1% ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) solution and was followed by analysis via liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS). The limits of quantitation (LOQs) were in the range of 10–100 pg/mL with recoveries of 64–71% (± 5–19%) after fast sample preparation and a total LC–MS analysis cycle time of 15 min and 13 min, respectively. This method was successfully applied in vivo in a rabbit that was exposed to 0.5 LD50 (7.5 µg/kg, i.v.) sarin for retrospective monitoring of the IMPA metabolite in urine. For the first time, IMPA was determined in rabbit urine samples for 15 days post-exposure, which is longer than any reported post-exposure method for AMPAs. To the best of our knowledge, this new method is the most sensitive and rapid for AMPA determination in urine by LC–MS/MS analysis.

The highly toxic nerve agent sarin (o-isopropyl methyl-phosphonofluoridate, GB) has been used in several armed conflicts and terror attacks in recent decades. Due to its inherent high sensitivity, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) has the potential to detect ultratrace levels of fluoride-regenerated G and V agents after appropriate chemical derivatization. A new method for the retrospective determination of exposure to sarin was developed. The method is based on sarin regeneration from blood using the fluoride-induced technique followed by derivatization with 2-[(dimethylamino)methyl]phenol (2-DMAMP) and LC–ESI–MS/MS (MRM) analysis. The validated method presents good linear response in the concentration range of 5–1000 pg/mL with a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 5 pg/mL, 13.8% accuracy, 16.7% precision and a total recovery of 62% ± 9%. This new analytical approach has several advantages over existing GC/GC–MS-based methods in terms of sensitivity, specificity and simplicity, in addition to a short LC–MS cycle time of 12 min. The method was successfully applied in an in vivo experiment for retrospective determination of sarin in a rabbit exposed to 0.1 LD50 sarin (1.5 µg/kg, i.v.). GB-2-DMAMP was easily determined in samples drawn up to 11 days after exposure. The high S/N ratio (500) observed for the GB-2-DMAMP signal in the 11day sample poses the potential for an extended time frame of months for analysis with this new method for the retrospective detection of sarin exposure. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on LC–MS/MS trace analysis of regenerated GB from biological matrices.

Long-term retrospective monitoring of exposure to organophosphorus nerve agents is challenging. We recently developed two highly sensitive analytical methods for regenerated sarin (GB) nerve agent in blood and its primary metabolite, isopropyl-methylphosphonic acid (IMPA), in urine. These methods were implemented in a toxicokinetics study carried out with sarin injected (i.v.) to rabbits at doses corresponding to 0.1, 0.5 or 0.9 LD50. The time frame for monitoring regenerated sarin from blood was 70 days for 0.1 LD50 and 0.5 LD50 and 77 days for 0.9 LD50, where rapid elimination occurred in the first 8 days with an initial average half-life of 1.2 days, followed by a second, slower elimination, with a terminal average half-life of 8.4 days. The time frame for monitoring IMPA in urine was 7, 15 and 16 days for 0.1 LD50, 0.5 LD50 and 0.9 LD50 intoxications, respectively. Rapid elimination of IMPA in urine occurred after exposure, with an average half-life of ~ 0.8 days on days 2–6. For the first time, a slower elimination route for IMPA, with an average half-life of ~ 4 days from day 6 onwards, was revealed. Both IMPA and regenerated sarin pharmacokinetics exhibit linearity with dose. The overlaid pharmacokinetic profiles of regenerated sarin in blood along with IMPA in urine emphasize the dominance of IMPA with a rapid decay in urine in the first week and the slower long-term decay of protein-bound sarin later in blood. To our knowledge, the two new sensitive methods exhibit the longest monitoring time frame reported in biological samples.

The chromatograms obtained from the gas chromatography-electron ionization mass spectrometric (GC-EI-MS) analysis of extracts containing G-nerve agents in the presence of diesel, gasoline, etc., are dominated by hydrocarbon backgrounds that "mask" the G-nerve agents, leading to severe difficulties in identification. This paper presents a practical solution for this challenge by transferring the G-nerve agents from the organic phase into the aqueous phase using liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), followed by derivatization with 2-[(dimethylamino)methyl]phenol (2-DMAMP), allowing ultrasensitive LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of the G-derivatives. The proposed approach enables rapid identification of trace amounts of G-nerve agents with limits of identification (LOIs) at the pg/mL scale.

A highly sensitive method for the detection and identification of sarin (GB), soman (GD) and cyclosarin (GF) chemical warfare agents (CWAs) in environmental outdoor and indoor matrices such as soil, asphalt, linoleum, formica, concrete and cloth was developed. The method incorporates derivatization of the G-type nerve agent extracts with 2-[(dimethylamino)methyl]phenol (2-DMAMP), followed by LC-ESI(+)-MS/MS analysis. Four LC-amenable extraction solvents were explored in terms of their extraction efficiency and the reaction rate of the derivatizing agent. The reaction time, temperature and derivatization reagent amount were optimized. The optimal procedure was found to be extraction with water by agitation (2 min), followed by the addition of 2-DMAMP directly into the injection vial and stirring for 5 min prior to LC-ESI(+)-MS/MS analysis, without any other pretreatment. The method was applied to real-world samples and exhibited very low detection limits (LODs) of 0.8–20 pg/cm2 in asphalt, linoleum, cloth, formica and concrete and 4 pg/g in soil. The newly developed method demonstrated significantly superior sensitivity compared to conventional GC–MS- and LC–MS-based methods for the identification of G-nerve agents and allowed the determination of both G-nerve agents and their hydrolysis products within a single LC–MS/MS run. The proposed methodology may be practical for verifying contaminated matrices collected in the battlefield or terror scenes in forensic investigations where trace level analysis is required.

A methodology for sensitive determination of sarin (GB), soman (GD) and cyclosarin (GF) chemical warfare agents in aqueous media was developed. The method incorporates direct derivatization with 2-[(dimethylamino)methyl]phenol (2-DMAMP), a commercially available, water-soluble reagent, followed by LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis in the positive ion mode. Five derivatization agents were characterized for their MS/MS fragmentation pattern, and their reaction time, temperature and derivatization-reagent amount were optimized. The developed derivatization reaction is simple, fast (1min) and proceeds at ambient temperature. Sample preparation consists of only the addition of the reagent directly into an injection vial prior to LC-ESI(+)-MS/MS analysis. All 2-DMAMP derivatives were stable for at least 48h and had unique tandem mass spectra characterized by common product ions at m/z 230 and 185. Compared with conventional GC-MS or LC-MS methods, simplicity, better sensitivity and informative MS/MS spectra were achieved by this method. Limits of detection (LODs), identification (LOIs), and quantification (LOQs) were determined in tap water and found to be 1pg/ml, 4pg/ml and 4pg/ml respectively. The proposed methodology is appropriate for routine evaluation of contaminated water supplies and has the advantage of a simultaneous analysis of both derivatized G-nerve agents and their intact hydrolysis products within a single LC-MS analysis.