Assessment and development of decontamination strategies for fentanyl and fentanyl analogues

Over the past decade, fentanyl and fentanyl analogues have pervaded the illicit drug market and are encountered with growing frequency by law enforcement, HazMat and other first-responder groups. Several studies have addressed the removal of fentanyl from surfaces. However, significantly fewer have focussed efforts on the chemical breakdown of this class of pharmaceuticals. This work presents a new approach to assessing fentanyl decontamination efficacy involving upscaling the reaction between fentanyl (∼15 mg) and the decontaminant, and fractionation of the reaction mixture by medium pressure liquid chromatography (MPLC). This method allowed the identification of surfactant-formulated sodium dichloroisocyanurate as a decontaminant that achieves molecular destruction of fentanyl, rather than simply conversion to the N-oxide of the compound achieved by most recommended degradation methods. The upscaled decontamination assessment approach developed and described herein represents an important reform in decontamination methodology by providing a wider lens through which to assess decontamination efficacy.