Chemical Warfare Agents, due to their toxic properties are used to kill, injure, or incapacitate enemies in military operations, Chemical Warfare Attacks (CWA), etc. Despite being banned at a large scale, they have been used recently in the Syrian civil war and are a major scare for the world in case of hostile developments. Researchers at the School of Science at IUPUI have investigated the use of blow flies as sensors especially for detection of chemical warfare agents.
The study shows that blow flies can be used as a safer alternative for studying the usage of these weapons, as well as other chemicals in the environment. This is of importance due to its ability to keep people out of potentially deadly situations. The team of students led by Nick Manicke carried out the experiments using chemical stimulants. The simulants are comparable to the actual weapons without being dangerous, similarly, pesticides share aspects to chemical warfare agents in terms of their molecular behaviour.
As blow flies scout the environment in search for water and food, they can be easily caught from large distances using baited traps. Three species of blow flies were studied using the simulants. To analyze CWA simulants and hydrolysis products from fly guts, a liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed. The guts of these flies were extracted and analyzed using the LC-MS/MS. "We used a mass spectrometer to determine what chemicals were in the blow flies' guts," Manicke said. "We were able to detect the chemical warfare agent simulants, and also some of the things chemical agents get broken down into once they're in the environment. If a fly were to come across a water source, with a chemical agent hydrolyzed in the water, we would find that in the fly." The CWA concentration simulant in fly guts decreased with time after exposure, but were detectible for 14 days after the initial exposure, demonstrating a safer and large window of detectability.
"If an area is too dangerous, too remote or in an access-restricted are-or if one just wanted to collect samples covertly-then one just needs to put out some bait and the flies will come to the bait," Manicke said. "We can scan through big areas by drawing the flies into a trap and analyzing what is in their guts."
This study is of importance for further research. This research will concentrate on the detection of molecules from "insensitive munitions," which are a new form of explosive chemical that is less prone to ignite by accident. As a result, they tend to deposit more in the environment. The researchers will seek for signs of insensitive munition chemicals in blow flies from remote or risky places, indicating environmental contamination.
Reference
Sarah N. Dowling et al, Insects as Chemical Sensors: Detection of Chemical Warfare Agent Simulants and Hydrolysis Products in the Blow Fly Using LC-MS/MS, Environ. Sci. Technol. (2022). doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c07381
by Bishakha Chaudhary
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