TECHNICAL REPORT A novel headspace sampler for field detection of chemical warfare agents and simulants connected to a commercial ion mobility detector John Aasulf Tørnes 1 Received: 9 December 2015 /Revised: 1 January 2016 /Accepted: 4 January 2016 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Abstract A rapid and simple sampling technique for use in conjunction with commercial ion mobility spectrometric de- tectors is described. The technique may be used for the detec- tion of chemical warfare agents in the field. A plastic syringe with a steel needle was attached to the nozzle of the detector, and the syringe shortened to reduce the dead volume in the interface. After heating samples of protective clothing in closed headspace vials to 70 °C for three minutes, the detector with the syringe and needle (called HS-LCD) was used to penetrate the vial and the overpressure was transferred to the detector via the simple interface. The detector response was registered in realtime. To demonstrate the possibilities with this technique, the HS-LCD sampler was tested in the field at relatively low temperatures on pieces of protective clothing contaminated by the chemical warfare agent simulants methyl salicylate and dipropylene glycol methyl ether. A significant improvement in detector response was observed utilising this technique compared to using the detector to survey the mate- rial in the open air. This improvement is believed to increase with decreasing ambient temperature and with decreasing an- alyte volatility. A more comprehensive list of possible interferents should be tested in the future. Keywords Chemical warfare agents . Simulants . Field detection . Headspace . Ion mobility spectrometry Introduction The Geneva Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) from 1997 bans production, stockpiling and use of chemical war- fare agents (CWA) in armed conflicts [1]. The CWC has been ratified by most nations in the world, but there are still a few rogue nations remaining who have not signed or ratified the Convention. Also, as exemplified by the attacks in Matsumoto in 1994 and those in Tokyo in 1995, terrorists have demon- strated that they are capable of acquiring and using CWA [2]. Since most chemical warfare agents react quickly when entering the body, both by oral and dermal exposure, it is of vital importance to be in possession of rapidly reacting detec- tion systems that can alert personnel to the potential presence of these agents. Among those at most immediate risk are first line personnel and military personnel. It is also beneficial to be able to check a possibly contaminated area before first re- sponders enter into it to ensure that the area is safe. There are a wide variety of vapour detectors on the marked that can rapidly detect both chemical warfare agents and toxic indus- trial chemicals [ 3–5]. One such vapour detector is the Lightweight Chemical Detector (LCD) from Smiths Detection (Bushey, Herts, UK). This is an ion mobility spectrometric (IMS) detector that is currently in use in the armed forces of several countries. However, vapour detectors of this type will only respond if the vapour pressures of threat agents are large enough and if agent vapours are drawn into the detector in high enough quantities to trigger the alarm. The amount of vapour available for detection is therefore limited at low temperatures and in windy conditions where the wind blows the vapour away from the detector. At this time there is very little field equipment on the mar- ket for the detection of threat compounds in liquid or solid form. The equipment mostly used today is detection paper that gives different colour spots when pressed against a liquid sample (for example the M8 and M9 detection paper from All * John Aasulf Tørnes John-aa.tornes@ffi.no 1 Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, P.O. Box 25, NO-2027 Kjeller, Norway DOI 10.1007/s12127-016-0188-1 /Published online: 9 016 January 2 Int. J. Ion Mobil. Spec. (2016) 19: – 105 112