Identification of Degradation Products of Sea-Dumped Chemical Warfare Agent-Related Phenylarsenic Chemicals in Marine Sediment.
Anal Chem
; 92(7): 4891-4899, 2020 04 07.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32124603
ABSTRACT
Previously unknown phenylarsenic chemicals that originated from chemical warfare agents (CWAs) have been detected and identified in sediment samples collected from the vicinity of chemical munition dumpsites. Nontargeted screening by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) was used for detection of 14 unknown CWA-related phenylarsenic chemicals. Methylated forms of Clark I/II, Adamsite, and phenyldichloroarsine were detected in all analyzed sediment samples, and their identification was based on synthesized chemicals. In addition, other previously unknown CWA-related phenylarsenic chemicals were detected, and their structures were elucidated using MS/HRMS technique. On the basis of relative isotope ratios of protonated molecules and measures of exact masses of formed fragment ions, it could be concluded that some of these unknown chemicals contained a sulfur atom attached to an arsenic atom. In addition to that, some of the samples contained chemicals that had formed via addition of an OH group to the aromatic ring. However, it is not possible to say how these chemicals are formed, but the most plausible cause is activities of marine microbes in the sediment. To our knowledge, these chemicals have not been detected from sediment samples previously. Sensitive analytical methods are needed for these novel chemicals to assess the total CWA burden in marine sediments, and this information is essential for the risk assessment.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Arsenicals
/
Chemical Warfare Agents
/
Geologic Sediments
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Anal Chem
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Finland