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Abstract
Verification of lewisite (L) exposure aids in the proper medical treatment of personnel who have come into contact with this vesicant. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for the detection of 2-chlorovinyl arsonous acid (CVAA) in theurine of guinea pigs exposed toL. Guinea pigs weresubcutaneously (sc)injected at 500 mug/kg with L in sesame seed oil. Urine samples were collected and analyzed at 8-h intervals for 40 h. CVAA is the hydrolysis product that retains most of L's structure. Two gas chromatographic methods of detection, mass spectrometry (MS) and atomic emission spectroscopy (AES), were employed to detect CVAA derivatized with ethanedithiol (EDT). CVAA-EDT was more amenable to gas chromatographic separation than was CVAA. Samples of urine were extracted with C-18 solid-phase cartridges, eluted with methanol, dried, derivatized with EDT, and analyzed. CVAA-EDT was detected at 3-mug/mL concentrations in 0- to 8-h samples and 100-ng/mL concentrations in 16- to 24-h samples. Results indicate that CVAA can be detected in guinea pig urine up to 24 h after subcutaneous L exposure using either MS or AES detectors. Demonstration of CVAA in guinea pig urine following sc injection with L suggests that its presence in human urine would prove exposure to L.