Development of an in vitro screening method for evaluating decontamination of sulfur mustard by reactive dermal...

New barrier creams known as topical skin protectants (TSPs) recently have been formulated and demonstrated to be effective in delaying skin penetration of the blistering warfare agent sulfur mustard (HD). To further inactivate or neutralize HD, compounds that react with the toxic agent must be incorporated in the formulations, which then become reactive topical skin protectants (rTSPs). Specific and fast screening methods are necessary to assess the decontaminating activity of rTSPs. A headspace sampling technique in conjunction with thermal desorption and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was evaluated as a potential screening method. A lower detection limit of 1 ng and a coefficient of variation of <20% were observed for the repetitive measurements of residual HD. Using this method, we evaluated a candidate rTSP. The percentage recovery of HD applied to the rTSP decreased by 35% over a 20-min time period compared with a non-rTSP. The candidate formulation showed an instant decontamination of the HD simulant dibutyl sulfide (decontamination was achieved in 2 s). The instrument set-up has the potential to accommodate multiple samples and can be automated. The method can be extended also to test reactive dermal formulations with toxic organophosphorus compounds.