Skin-Activated Compounds for Marking and Detection

摘要

Prior studies on the use of fluorescent compounds for personnel marking, tracking, and detection were limited to compounds which fluoresce both prior to and after application to a target. Such compounds are not specific for personnel. Four new and three known isothiocyanates were studied for their fluorescent properties in the epidermis of human skin. One of the seven nonfluorescent isothiocyanates was found to react with amino acids and produce fluorescence of moderate intensity. It has been demonstrated that the application of 4-phenylbutyl-isothiocyanate to rabbit skin will result in fluorescence of sufficient intensity to be detected at a distance of 50 feet and yield a signal-to-noise ratio of 2.5 when using a long-range spectrofluorimeter developed under an Air Force contract. 4-phenylbutylisothiocyanate, when applied to rabbit skin as a 5-percent solution, produced only redness of the skin and does not appear to be toxic in low concentrations. (Author)