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Chemical/Biological Weapons Screening


The Next Generation of Chemical/Biological (CB) Threat Detection
Many technologies have been developed for chemical weapons (CW) and biological weapons (BW) detection. Mass spectrometry offers the benefit of molecular identification. For CW detection only MS is a true identifier. Other detectors (e.g., IMS, GC, chemical sensors, etc.) are indicators giving a characteristic response indicative of the target compound, but do not provide direct identification. For BW detection, there are some viable alternatives to MS detection; however, for continuous real-time BW monitoring, MS has some clear advantages. There are three general technologies for BW detection:
  • Mass spectrometry (MS) offers molecular fingerprinting and rapid analysis. Effective MS analysis requires a sampling system that can collect the particles and effectively lyse the microorganisms to release the molecular signature content within.
  • Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be used to characterize BWs. As with MS, a sampler and method to release the DNA fragments is needed. PCR sequencing is a slower method than MS and is not well suited to detection of viruses and biotoxins.
  • Immunoscreening with antibodies can be used to selectively bind to exposed antigens on BWs. This method has high potential as a solution; however, an array of different antibodies is needed to screen for a wide range of BWs. Currently this method is limited to a few biological threats and is plagued by false positive rates and high background levels due to antibody binding of non-specific and cross-reacting interferent materials.
Another detector alternative to MS, is ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). Though popular for handheld explosives detection instruments, it is not a very specific detector and is prone to false positives in complex environments. IMS is a very low resolution mass analyzer. MS on the other hand has about 100x higher resolution than IMS and provides for the highest available mass resolution. The general consensus is that IMS cannot achieve effective screening for a myriad of threats and still maintain a low false positive rate. It is better suited for targeting one or a few threats at time.

High-Speed Screening of CWs, TICs/TIMs, and other Threats
Syagen has developed the most advanced, easy-to-operate chemical detection system for counterterrorism application (chemical agents and explosives) and other applications requiring real-time, ultrasensitive chemical analysis of complex molecular mixtures. Syagen's FieldMate™ and FieldTracker™ systems are designed for rapid monitoring of air, liquids, soil, and surfaces for the presence of chemical weapons (CWs) and other potential terrorist and toxic threats (e.g., toxic industrial chemicals and materials, TICs/TIMs). The system employs a dual photoionization/electron ionization (PI/EI) source coupled to our powerful quadrupole ion trap, time-of-flight (QitTof™) analyzer, which can achieve an additional dimensionality of analysis by selectively fragmenting target ions to measure for known signature fragments (2D MS).. The instrument is capable of MS/MS "on-the-fly" whereby the detection of a targeted compound can trigger an excitation waveform to provide a confirmatory fragment spectrum. The entire instrument is field transportable and occupies a small, 4 sq. ft. footprint.

Detection of BWs
Significant developments are in progress for improving detection capabilities for biological weapons (BWs). Mass spectrometry is a critical technology for this critical counterterrorism application. A number of approaches are being developed to harvest the unique biological signatures of biological entities, such as bacteria, viruses and bio-toxins. For bacteria and viruses, identifying the DNA provides a definitive organism identification. This is the what the PCR method does. Protein identification is also a powerful identification means for bacteria and most bio-toxins. However, these methods are hampered by the laborious sample preparation needed (e.g., cell lyzing, sample clean-up, protein digestion, etc.) and the general lack of protein and DNA data bases for all the critical agents to be screened for. As these new BW detection methods are developed, it is clear that a fast, powerful, multidimensional MS system will be needed. Syagen’s QitTof ™ MS is ready to meet that challenge.

Another method having some limited success is the pyrolysis (Py) of biological entities, such as bacteria. This method simplifies the sample preparation step, but can destroy a great detail of the biological details needed to make definitive identifications. In a sense PY Converts the biological information into chemical information, but it is very complex. Still the chemical mixture has a high level of information content and if analyzed effectively can provide biological classification and in many cases species specific identification. Syagen has made several significant improvements on the traditional method of Py/MS.
  • Adding GC separation to greatly improve chemical analysis accuracy
  • Using PI rather than EI or chemical ionization to obtain simplified mass spectra
  • QitTof™ MS, which provides fast analysis of the many narrow GC peaks and when necessary for automated MS/MS analysis.
The effectiveness of this method can be seen from the plot below showing principle component analysis (PCA) for very similar gram positive bacteria samples. There is a clear species level delineation on these samples. While it may not yet be possible to use this method for true identification, it does provide a fast and sensitive screening capability. In the rare event that a suspicious attack is detected, it can greatly narrow down the possible threat candidates. After a clear target threat candidate is known a PCR or immunoassay method can be used to perform final identification.

The Syagen FieldTracker™ is a fully militarized screening system for the most harsh battlefield conditions. The Syagen FieldMate™ is a civilian version suited for mobile laboratory and first responder applications.

The combined PI/EI, Qit Tof MS system provides unique benefits and unprecedented performance for the following applications:
  • Military force protection from threat of chemical/biological (CB) terrorism
  • Chemical demilitarization and arms control treaty monitoring
  • Emergency first response for hazardous materials
  • Law enforcement forensics investigation
  • Air quality monitoring for civilian defense and environmental pollution monitoring

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