Application of microcolumn liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis with flame photometric detection for the screening of degradation products of chemical warfare agents in water and soil

Microcolumn liquid chromatography (mu LC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE ) coupled on-line with flame photometric detection (FPD) have been used for the screening of polar breakdown products of chemical warfare agents in wa ter and soil samples, provided during Official Proficiency Tests organized by the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Che mical Weapons. CE-FPD is shown to be a powerful and rapid method for the de termination of alkylphosphonic acids, which are the breakdown products of o rganophosphorus nerve agents. Gradient elution mu LC-FPD is more sensitive and robust but less rapid in the determination of these compounds. In addit ion, mu LC-FPD can be applied to screen for hydrolysis products of sulfur m ustard and its analogues. Both methods can be applied without prior derivat ization and are extremely selective. In order to unambiguously identify the relevant compounds, electrospray ionization (tandem) mass spectrometry, ga s chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrome try were applied. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.