Trinitroaromatic explosives: modern application, toxicological characterization, methods of determination

Explosives such as tetryl and picric acid, which were common in the past, now have lost their combat relevance. However, they are often used for peaceful purposes individually and in combination with other trinitroaromatic compounds (for example, trinitrotoluene). As a result of their use, environmental pollution occurs, followed by intoxication of plants, animals and people. Cases of poisoning by explosives during their production are also described. In the symptoms of poisoning, there are both general disorders and such specific phenomena as skin staining, impaired physiological efficiency of NADPH-dependent enzymes, genotoxicity and immunotoxicity. In the course of the study of scientific literature, a trend towards the development of chemical-analytical probes was established. Various options for the sensor surface of the device and methods for detecting compounds are considered. In the determination of explosives, the use of ion mobility spectrometry is widespread, which is very rare for the chemical-toxicological analysis of other groups of compounds. At the same time, the methods common in the analysis of narcotic and psychotropic substances (GC/HPLC-MS) are also applicable to the determination of trinitroaromatic explosives. However, the presence of nitro groups in their structure complicates such analysis. The solution to the problem is to apply cold injection of the sample directly to the column. Despite the variety of developed techniques and methods, the possibility of their application to the study of biological matrices is still studied not enough. It is necessary to conduct additional studies of a chemical-toxicological nature to establish the optimal conditions for extracting the substances in question, the parameters of instrumental analysis, the possibility of storing samples and solving other problems of forensic medical examination.