Improvements to the Fluoride Reactivation Method by Simple Organic Extraction for Retrospective Detection of Exposure to the Organophosphorus Nerve Agents in Human Plasma

A rapid and simple organic extraction method for the determination of the chemical warfare agent, isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate (sarin, GB) in human plasma has been developed using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). In the course of method development, several organic solvents have been screened and chloroform show a low background and increase signal to noise ratio of GB among other organic solvents. Especially, the organic extraction method of reactivated GB from the human plasma has a 30% greater recovery yield than solid-phase extraction (SPE). This simple extraction method was successfully applied to the trace analysis of nerve agents in human plasma in the 3rd Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confidence building exercise on biomedical sample analysis.