Chemical methods early warning systems

Though some very elegant methods are now available to study the biochemistry of the brain and nervous system, none has yet discovered any generalized marker chemicals which will serve as reliable indicators or early warnings of neurotoxic actions or potential actions. There are, however, some useful methods. Before looking at these, however, one should understand the basic problems involved. 

Early CWA detectors were quite primitive and included primarily chemical-reactive dyes in paints. These were insensitive and therefore unreliable (Smart, 1997). Later technology used more sensitive chemical dyes in other formats such as paper tickets. Modem detectors now consist of fieldable IR spectrometers and an alarm system designed to warn of the presence of CWAs on the battlefield or in an enclosed space. Several rehable tests for the diagnosis of CWA exposure have been developed. To detect HD exposure, the level of thiodiglycol, a metabolite of HD, is quantitated in the urine using a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analytical method (Jakubowski et al., 1990 TB MED 296, 1996). Nerve agent exposure is detected in the field by the use of a fieldable Ellman assay to determine chohnesterase inhibition in the blood (Ellman et al., 1961 TB MED 296, 1996). 

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