Methods to analyze toxic scheduled chemicals (TSC) and their decomposition products in environmental samples have been developed and are widely used. However, methods for such analyses in biological samples have only recently been developed. Retrospective detection of exposure to TSC can be useful for various reasons. First of all, such analytical methods can be used to establish firmly whether casualties have indeed been exposed to these chemicals, whereas dosimetry of the exposure will be a starting point for medical treatment of the intoxication. Second, these methods will be useful for verification of alleged non-adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Moreover, these methods can be used for health surveillance of workers in destruction facilities of chemical warfare agents and in forensic analyses in case of suspected terrorist activities. In this presentation an overview is given of the methods currently available for detection of exposure to sulfur mustard, nerve agents, lewisite and phosgene. In this report an overview is presented of the methods currently available for detection of exposure to sulfur mustard, nerve agents, lewisite and phosgene.

Keywords: Toxicology; exposure; nerve agents