<br/><br/>Ricin is a toxin found in the seeds of the castor bean plant which can be extracted using simple methods and commonly found reagents. Ricin is a schedule 1 controlled substance under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The high toxicity and ready availability means that ricin is an agent of concern, and subject to criminal activity. When a castor seed extract or ricin preparation is encountered by law enforcement or first responders, it is useful to be able to attribute the source of the seeds to a particular geographical location and/or method of preparation.<br/>Castor seeds are 40-60% oil by weight, therefore extraction of the toxin (particularly by those not expert in laboratory techniques) will result in residual oil carrying through the preparation process and remaining as a contaminant. Previous work has shown that the method of preparation may be determined through analysis of the ricinoleic acid content residual in the prepared toxin. While the fatty acid content in castor seed oil is up to 95% ricinoleic acid, there are many other fatty acids liberated from the triglyceride. These minor fatty acids may comprise a chemical fingerprint, or identifying profile which may be indicative of the source of an illicitly prepared ricin sample.<br/>Here, samples of castor oil and also ricin toxin were prepared in the laboratory based on freely available methods. The extracted oil and the residual castor oil in the toxin samples were esterified and the derivatives characterised by GC-MS. The resulting data were analysed for potential applicability for provenance and geographic attribution purposes.

Chemical attribution of ricin by profiling of fatty acids using gas chromatography mass spectrometry

2019 Fall National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.