Examination of Firearms Review: 2007 to 2010 - Interpol

electrochemical sensor with commercially available purified AChE and ChE in
saliva obtained from nave rats. It is found that the sensor is very sensitive, with
an LOD for AChE down to 2 pM [355].
An automated on-line pepsin digestion-LC-MS configuration has been
developed for the rapid determination of chemical warfare agent protein
adducts, and was demonstrated by the analysis of specific adducts of sarin
and sulfur mustard to human butyryl cholinesterase and human serum albumin,
respectively [356]. To identify five hydrolysis degradation products of sulfur
mustards, namely thiodiglycol, bis(2-hydroxyethylthio)methane,
1,2-bis(2-hydroxyethylthio)ethane, 1,3-bis(2-hydroxyethylthio)propane, and
1,4-bis(2-hydroxyethylthio)butane, a RPLC coupled with inductively coupled
plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was employed for element-specific sulfur
detection, and ESI-MS was used to confirm the identification [357]. An SPE
followed by GCMS was reported for the analysis of nitrogen containing amino
alcohols, the precursors and degradation products of nitrogen mustards and
VX in plasma. The LOD was down to 5 ng/mL in the selected ion monitoring
mode and 0.01 µg/mL in full scan mode [358]. An LC-MS/MS procedure has
been developed for retrospective diagnosis of exposure to different forms of
mustard agents [nitrogen mustards (HN-1, HN-2, and HN-3) or sulfur mustard
(HD)] by detection of the CWA-adducts formed in blood samples, enabling
LODs of 200 nM of HN-1, 100 nM of HN-2, 200 nM of HN-3, or 50 nM of HD
[359].
Timely diagnosis of exposure to ricin is of primary importance for appropriate
treatment. A sensitive and specific immunochromatographic test for ricin has
been developed for identifying ricins prepared from 19 Ricinus cultivars, all
with a limit of visible detection between 1 and 2.5 ng/mL in buffer [360].
Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS)
with an automated laser firing sequence was used to detect intact ricin from
solutions containing less than 4 µg/mL of ricin in the presence of other
endogenous seed proteins [361].
Methods involving LC-ICP-MS were examined for the determination of
phenylarsenic compounds derived from chemical warfare agents, such as
diphenylarsinic acid (DPAA), phenylarsonic acid, phenylmethylarsinic acid
(PMAA), phenyldimethylarsine oxide, and diphenylmethylarsine oxide, in urine
[362]. Analysis of the urine samples of the patients exposed to phenylarsenic
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