UV laser decontamination of chemical warfare agent simulants CEPS and malathion

Abstract Ultraviolet (UV) laser irradiation was applied to decontaminate chemical warfare agent simulants chloroethyl phenyl sulfide (CEPS) and malathion, with results obtained from gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. Exposure of CEPS to a 266 nm laser exhibited feasible decontamination by dominantly producing the byproduct diphenyl disulfide. However, decontamination in the cases with 355 and 532 nm exposure on CEPS as well as 266 nm exposure on malathion were relatively inefficient. Results also show a strong correlation between decontamination efficiency and absorption probability, which indicates the importance of selecting proper laser wavelengths and supports the photochemical mechanism of UV laser decontamination.