TITLE:
Review: Practical Use of a Neurophysiological Detector and the Protocol for High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
AUTHORS:
Ilia Brondz
KEYWORDS:
Neurophysiological Detector, Phosphor-Organic Substances, Tabun, Soman, Criminal Use of Poisons in Warfare
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Analytical Mass Spectrometry and Chromatography,
Vol.11 No.1,
March
31,
2023
ABSTRACT: The
main aim for discovery and development of the neurophysiological detector was
detection of the production’ seats and criminal use of poisons in warfare. Phosphor-organic (PO)
substances with acetylcholinesterase-blocking effects are prohibited in warfare by international law (Geneva
Protocol.
https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/bio/1925-geneva-protocol/). Monitoring PO analogs with acetylcholinesterase-blocking
effects and their degradation products in water and soil can provide clues to
unlawful production sites and the possible use of POs in warfare. Attempts to
analyze POs by derivatization have had a low ability to detect them. A
neurophysiological detector (NPD)-high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
system was developed for specific detection with high detection ability. The
first official presentation of our NPD was at the 3rd International Symposium on Separation in BioSciences
SBS 2003: A 100 Years of Chromatography, May 13-18,
2003, in Moscow, Russia. The NPD in connection to HPLC was developed 14 years before the
presentation at the SBS in 2003. Initially, NPD combined with an HPLC system
was developed for intelligence services and only for use in monitoring and
espionage against the unlawful production of neuroparalytic agents, as
explained in this article. NPD combined with an HPLC system was developed in
Umeå, Sweden, in 1987-89; the protocol was further developed in Statens Plantevern Institutt,
Ås, Norway, in 1990-92. NPD may have great utility during the current period of active
warfare in Europe. The initial challenge was detecting unlawful production and
use of PO compounds and their metabolites that can potentially block acetylcholinesterase.
The sensor in NPD can detect and monitor substances such as tabun, soman, and
modern PO poisons used in military applications.
This article describes the history of the development of NPD and its aim as a
sensitive sensor in detecting PO substances with acetylcholinesterase-blocking
effects.