Skin decontamination efficacy of potassium ketoxime on rabbits exposed to sulfur mustard

Abstract

Context: The chemical weapon sulfur mustard (SM) is a blister agent, and currently, there is no effective antidote.

Objective: To evaluate the decontamination efficacy of potassium ketoxime against SM and preliminarily elucidate its decontamination mechanism.

Materials and methods: Potassium ketoxime reacted with SM, and SM residues were tested at different time intervals by T-135 colorimetry after the reaction. Rabbit skin was topically exposed to 2 mg/cm² SM, treated with potassium ketoxime 1 min later, and observed after 6, 12, and 24 h. Gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy was employed to screen and identify the main products of potassium ketoxime decontamination of SM.

Results: Potassium ketoxime had a great effect against SM contamination. With a mass ratio of decontaminant: SM of 50:1, decontamination rates against SM were 87.5% after 30 s, 95.9% after 1 min, and 99.0% after 5 min. Fifteen minutes after exposure to SM, the untreated group showed clear erythema lesions, whereas the experimental group showed no clear erythema lesions within 6 h. After 12 and 24 h, the areas of damaged skin in the experimental group were 0.038 and 0.125 cm², respectively, compared with 2.21 and 2.65 cm² in the control group. Histopathological analysis revealed that treatment with potassium ketoxime also reduced inflammation-induced damage.

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that potassium ketoxime reacted rapidly and completely with SM, and thus, it was found to be a suitable and effective skin decontaminant against SM. The decontamination reaction mechanism is mainly related to nucleophilic substitution.

• Chemical warfare agent
• decontaminant
• potassium ketoxime
• sulfur mustard

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.