Degradation of VX and sulfur mustard by enzymatic haloperoxidation

Abstract Chloroperoxidase (CPO) isolated from Caldariomyces fumago (20 U ml −1 ) together with urea hydrogenperoxide (UPER, 0.5 mM) and sodium chloride as co‐substrate (NaCl, 0.5 M) caused rapid breakdown of VX (10 µM) ( t ½ = 8 s, 25 C, 50 mM tartarate, pH 2.75). Glucose oxidase (GOX, Aspergillus niger ) and glucose were used as an alternative source for H 2 O 2 . A mixture of GOX (20 U ml −1 ), glucose (GLU 0.45 M), CPO (20 U ml −1 ) and NaCl (0.5 M) caused a 3.8‐fold slower degradation of VX (10 µM) ( t ½ = 30 s, 25 C, 50 mM tartarate, pH 2.75). The concentrations of H 2 O 2 and chlorine produced by this enzyme/substrate mixture depended mainly on the GLU concentration. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) together with UPER (1 mM) and sodium iodide (NaI, 0.05 M) caused progressive degradation of VX that was more than 400‐fold slower than with CPO (20 U ml −1 ), UPER (0.5 mM) and NaCl (0.5 M) ( t ½ = 55 min, 25 C, pH 8). Skin decontamination of VX by CPO was tested in pig‐ear skin in vitro . The chemical agent VX (0.01 M, 100 µl) was degraded by 98% within 3 h of skin diffusion when a mixture of UPER/NaCl/CPO was applied 60 min prior to VX application. A mixture of UPER/NaCl without CPO also caused significant VX degradation (94%) during skin diffusion whereas it did not cause any VX degradation in solution. Degradation of VX in skin, obtained without exogenous CPO, may indicate involvement of endogenous intradermal haloperoxidase‐like enzyme. Reagent UPER (1 mM) did not cause any degradation of VX in solution or during its skin diffusion. Furthermore, a mixture of CPO, UPER and NaCl caused rapid degradation of sulfur mustard (HD). Sulfur mustard (50 µM) incubated in the presence of CPO (4 U ml −1 ), UPER (0.05 M) and NaCl (0.5 M) at pH 2.75 and 30 C was oxidized by 97% and 99% within 5 and 10 min, respectively. The oxidation products HD sulfoxide, HD sulfone and HD sulfoxidevinyl were identified by GC/MS in the enzymatic chloroperoxidation mixture. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.