Evaluation of detection performance of portable aspiration-type ion mobility spectrometer with seven detection cells for chemical warfare agents

Abstract

The detection performance of a portable 241Am ionization aspiration-type ion mobility spectrometer (M90-D1-C, Environics Oy) was investigated with nerve gases, blister agents, blood agents, choking agents and related compounds. The vapors of nerve gases, sarin, soman, tabun, cyclohexylsarin were recognized as "NERVE" after about several seconds of sampling, and the limits of detection (LOD) were <0.3 mg m-3. The vapors of blister agents, mustard gas and lewisite 1, and blood agents, hydrogen cyanide and cyanogen chloride were recognized as "BLISTER" with an LOD of <2.4 mg m-3 and >415 mg m-3, respectively. rine was recognized as "BLOOD" with an LOD of 820 mg m-3 The vapor of chlo. The vapors of nitrogen mustard 3 and chlorpicrin were recognized as different alarm classes, depending on their concentrations. The vapors of nitrogen mustard 1, 2 and phosgene did not show any alarm. As for interference, the vapors of nerve gas simulants, dimethylmethylphosphonate, trimethylphosphate, triethylphosphate, diisopropylfluorophosphate, blister agent simulants, 2-chloroethylethylsulfide, 1,4-thioxane, 2-mercaptoethanol, and 20 organic solvents within 38 solvents examined were recognized false-positively. The patterns of detection sensor channel response values of 6 ion mobility cells and semiconductor cell were compared with the situation of the alarm against chemical-warfare agents. © 2010 The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry.