UK Dstl scientists find mustard plant useful in nerve agents detection

New research by the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) scientists has revealed that certain plants can be used to improve detection of toxic nerve agents in combat zones.

Conducted in collaboration with the University of Central Lancashire, the research involving soil contamination by chemical agents and subsequent cultivation and analysis of plants discovered that the mustard plant (Sinapsis alba) efficiently absorbs nerve agents from contaminated soil.

The resulting analytes can be later extracted using ethanol and analysed using gas chromatography and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for more comprehensive evaluation.

According to the researchers, the substances remain in the plants for a period of at least 28 days, which can provide them with a longer time window for detection and analysis.

Dstl’s Matthew Gravett said: ”This research will improve our sampling and analysis capability and provide the UK and international scientific community with a more effective way of detecting chemical warfare agents.”

The scientists are now looking to expand this research to include longer testing times and different soils with the aim of promoting the use of plants to detect nerve agents, similar to the ones used during the 1995 sarin attacks in the Tokyo Metro.

Nerve agents are banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) due to their extremely toxic nature and are difficult to discover due to their ability to absorb into the soil or leach into groundwater.