Analysis of Thiodiglycol in Urine of Victims of an Alleged Attack with Mustard Gas

Abstract

A procedure for the semi-quantitative determination of thiodiglycol, a metabolite of the vesicant mustard gas, in urine has been developed. Thiodiglycol was converted into mustard gas using concentrated HCl at temperatures close to 100°C. The headspace of the solution containing mustard gas, was trapped on an adsorption tube filled with Tenax-GC which was subsequently analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Using 10 mL of urine, a detection limit of a few ng/mL of thiodigiycol was achieved. The procedure was applied to urine samples obtained from Iranian patients who were the alleged victims of an attack by chemical warfare agents (probably mustard gas). A number of control samples were investigated as well. Thiodigiycol was found in the urine of the Iranian patients in concentrations varying between 3 and 140 ng/mL. However, the detection of thiodiglycol in concentrations up to 55 ng/mL in control samples excluded the unambiguous verification of the use of mustard gas against the Iranian patients.