Visual detection of soman metabolites in zebrafish

Abstract

Soman, an organophosphate compound, is readily converted into pinacolyl methylphosphonate acid in environment. The toxicity of pinacolyl methylphosphonate acid in biological systems warrants significant concern. Current quantitative detection methods for pinacolyl methylphosphonate acid generally require complex sample pretreatment procedures. This study aims to develop a rapid and convenient method for detecting pinacolyl methylphosphonate acid in biological tissues without pretreatment. We established a visual detection protocol using desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging for semi-quantitative analysis of pinacolyl methylphosphonate acid in biological tissues. Calibration curves demonstrated good linearity (R² = 0.97) within the 10.0-50.0 ng/g concentration range, with relative standard deviations below 20%. The validated method successfully quantified pinacolyl methylphosphonate acid in biological tissues following 10-day exposure to 0.125 μg/L soman. This pretreatment-free approach enables rapid visual detection of pinacolyl methylphosphonate acid in biological matrices, providing a valuable tool for monitoring and assessing potential health risks associated with environmental soman exposure.