Median lethal dose determination for percutaneous exposure to soman and VX in guinea pigs and the effectiveness of decontamination with M291 SDK or SANDIA foam

Rapid Decontamination of Chemical Warfare Agents from the Skin

“…Thus, decontamination is the most important early intervention (Simpson and Schuman, 2002). Although Maibach et al (1971) present relatively recent human in vivo studies, most testing of decontamination products is performed either in vivo with animal models (Braue et al, 2011a,b;Clarkson et al, 2012) or in vitro using human skin samples (Mircioiu et al, 2013).…”

“…The V-type nerve agents are several orders of magnitude less volatile than the G-type agents and act primarily as a liquid via the percutaneous route; for example, VX is several orders of magnitude more lethal percutaneously than GB (Reutter, 1999;Braue et al, 2011a) or GD (Braue et al, 2011b;Clarkson et al, 2012).…”

“…The signs of poisoning develop within minutes, and if decontamination is delayed, toxic levels of the nerve agents are likely to be disseminated via the bloodstream after the agent has been absorbed. Decontamination will prevent continued absorption of the agent, reducing the need for further medical management (Table 76.1; Hamilton et al, 2004;Clarkson et al, 2004Clarkson et al, , 2012.…”

“…For evaluating the decontamination of guinea pig skin, Clarkson et al (2012) sedated and clipped guinea pigs. The animals were clipped with Oster brand clippers (model: Golden A5) with a #40 CryogenX blade instead of being shaved with shaving cream and a razor blade, as previous work showed that shaving caused razor burn and increased the rate and amount of agent that was absorbed (Snider et al, 2003).…”

“…Three recent reports examined the effectiveness of the M291 SDK in treating GD and VX on animal models of anesthetized, clipped guinea pigs (Braue et al, 2011a,b;Clarkson et al, 2012); the LD 50 was determined to be 24 h. Clarkson et al (2012) reported that decontamination with the M291 SDK 1 min after neat (undiluted) exposure to GD increased the LD 50 from 11.6 to 76.9 mg/ kg, yielding a protective ratio of 6.6. Decontamination with the M291 SDK 1 min after neat exposure to VX increased the LD 50 from 0.10 to 0.87 mg/kg, yielding a protective ratio of 8.7.…”