Detection and measurement of sulfur mustard offgassing from the weanling pig following exposure to saturated sulfur mustard vapor

Animal models are employed to investigate mechanisms of injury and to evalu ate protective measures against sulfur mustard (HD) exposure. The ability t o detect and quantify HD enables the researcher to follow safe procedures i n handling skin samples. We designed an experimental procedure to measure H D offgassing from animal models. A Minicams (R) -a portable gas chromatogra ph equipped with a flame photometric detector and on-line sorbent collectio n and desorption-was used to monitor the HD concentration, Confirming measu rements were made using a two-step process that trapped HD on a Tenax sorbe nt off-line and then transferred the sample by means of an ACEM 900 to a ga s chromatograph equipped with either a dame photometric detector or a mass spectrometer, Sulfur mustard offgassing data are presented from three exper iments in which weanling pigs were exposed to saturated HD vapor via vapor caps containing 10 mul of HD. The no concentration was measured in time-wei ghted-average (TWA) units at a specific HD application site. The current 8- h maximum exposure limit for HD is 3-ng l(-1), (I TWA unit). The largest TW A value measured near a 3h time point was a Minicams measurement of 0.48 TW A at 2 h and 53 min after removal of a vapor cap containing HD from a singl e exposure site on an animal that had 24 concurrent dorsal exposure sites. Gas chromatography/flame photometric detection and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry were used to confirm the Minicams data and to provide greater sensitivity and selectivity down to 0.1 TWA, The gas chromatography/mass sp ectrometry data confirmed that Ho concentrations fell below 0.1 TWA in < 5h for a specific site. These measurements of HD concentrations provided info rmation on the expeditious and safe handling of HD-exposed tissue. Publishe d in 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.