Toward the characterization of biological toxins using field-based FT-IR spectroscopic instrumentation

David W. Schiering; Robert B. Walton; Christopher W. Brown; Mark L. Norman; Joseph Brewer; James Scott

doi:10.1117/12.571377

16 December 2004 Toward the characterization of biological toxins using field-based FT-IR spectroscopic instrumentation

David W. Schiering, Robert B. Walton, Christopher W. Brown, Mark L. Norman, Joseph Brewer, James Scott

Proceedings Volume 5585, Chemical and Biological Point Sensors for Homeland Defense II; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.571377
Event: Optics East, 2004, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Abstract

IR spectroscopy is a broadly applicable technique for the identification of covalent materials. Recent advances in instrumentation have made Fourier Transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy available for field characterization of suspect materials. Presently, this instrumentation is broadly deployed and used for the identification of potential chemical hazards. This discussion concerns work towards expanding the analytical utility of field-based FT-IR spectrometry in the characterization of biological threats. Two classes of materials were studied: biologically produced chemical toxins which were non-peptide in nature and peptide toxin. The IR spectroscopic identification of aflatoxin-B1, trichothecene T2 mycotoxin, and strychnine was evaluated using the approach of spectral searching against large libraries of materials. For pure components, the IR method discriminated the above toxins at better than the 99% confidence level. The ability to identify non-peptide toxins in mixtures was also evaluated using a "spectral stripping" search approach. For the mixtures evaluated, this method was able to identify the mixture components from ca. 32K spectral library entries. Castor bean extract containing ricin was used as a representative peptide toxin. Due to similarity in protein spectra, a SIMCA pattern recognition methodology was evaluated for classifying peptide toxins. In addition to castor bean extract the method was validated using bovine serum albumin and myoglobin as simulants. The SIMCA approach was successful in correctly classifying these samples at the 95% confidence level.

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David W. Schiering, Robert B. Walton, Christopher W. Brown, Mark L. Norman, Joseph Brewer, and James Scott "Toward the characterization of biological toxins using field-based FT-IR spectroscopic instrumentation", Proc. SPIE 5585, Chemical and Biological Point Sensors for Homeland Defense II, (16 December 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.571377

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