Rapid monitoring of sulfur mustard degradation in solution by headspace solid-phase microextraction sampling and gas chromatography mass spectrometry

A method using headspace solid‐phase microextraction (HS‐SPME) followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis has been developed to gain insight into the degradation of the chemical warfare agent sulfur mustard in solution. Specifically, the described approach simplifies the sample preparation for GC/MS analysis to provide a rapid determination of changes in sulfur mustard abundance. These results were found to be consistent with those obtained using liquid‐liquid extraction (LLE) GC/MS. The utility of the described approach was further demonstrated by the investigation of the degradation process in a complex matrix with surfactant added to assist solvation of sulfur mustard. A more rapid reduction in sulfur mustard abundance was observed using the HS‐SPME approach with surfactant present and was similar to results from LLE experiments. Significantly, this study demonstrates that HS‐SPME can simplify the sample preparation for GC/MS analysis to monitor changes in sulfur mustard abundance in solution more rapidly, and with less solvent and reagent usage than LLE. Copyright © 2010 Commonwealth of Australia. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.