Decon

The possibility that rogue states or non-state actors could acquire CBRN agents or weapons is a reality that the U.S. military and homeland security establishments have been forced to accept. Decon equipment developers need to stay one step ahead of the contaminate threats.

by Peter A. Buxbaum, MMT Correspondent

The possibility that rogue states or non-state actors could acquire chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agents or weapons is a reality that the U.S. military and homeland security establishments have been forced to accept. Terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida have expressed interest in acquiring such agents.

Radiological sources, for example, are abundant and are included in medical devices such as teletherapy machines and medical gauges, as well as a variety of commercial products such as smoke detectors. Controls over these materials have been lax; commercial and industrial radiological sources, particularly in the developing world, have often been abandoned or stolen.

Response teams are actively training to respond to chemical, biological and radiological attacks quickly and efficiently. The matter of responding to these types of threats raises the question of how personnel are to be decontaminated after having been exposed to these agents.

Of course, warfighters are equipped with latest gear which protects them from being directly exposed to these toxins. But once they return from the field, the equipment must be dealt with in a manner that prevents these personnel from being contaminated on their bodies.

The importance of this problem led the Department of Defense to establish the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD). This DoD initiative focuses on the protection of warfighters against the use of battlefield chemical and biological weapons.

The joint program executive office encompasses diverse programs from each of the armed services and oversees a wide scope of capabilities. It is responsible for research, development, acquisition, fielding and life cycle support of chemical and biological defense equipment and medical countermeasures supporting the national military strategy. The JPEOCBD also has an extensive program for the development of next-generation decontamination equipment, systems and methodologies.

The equipment and products being acquired by the U.S. military for current training and possible future decontamination activities are diverse and vary from specific products to complete systems. Bracco Diagnostics Inc., Princeton, N.J., through its acquisition of E-Z-EM Inc., provides the reactive skin decontamination lotion RSDL, which it has successfully marketed to the U.S. armed services and to foreign militaries.

“RSDL is a lotion that neutralizes or removes all known chemical warfare agents,” said Tim Henry, vice president and general manager for health care and decontamination at Bracco Diagnostics.

The product, which was originally developed by the Canadian military research and development organization, comes in a single-use, tear-open packet containing a sponge impregnated with the lotion. Bracco Diagnostics was chosen by the Canadians to manufacture and market the product. The company also sells a cheaper training version of RSDL.

JPEO-CBD selected the product for adoption by the U.S. military in March 2007. “They have since been purchasing quite a few units,” said Henry. RSDL is replacing the M-291 product that warfighters now carry.

“The phase-in and phase-out processes are scheduled to be completed by 2011,” Henry said, “but based on the magnitude of orders, I believe it is happening at a faster rate.”

RSDL was chosen for U.S. warfighters because it makes a “quantum leap in protection over the prior art,” according to Henry. “All prior skin decontaminants have relied on absorption or adsorption,” he explained. “Most militaries use powders to absorb surface chemicals.”

The problem with those kinds of agents is that they are difficult to apply, they don’t achieve complete coverage of the skin, and they compromise the effectiveness of some pieces of equipment such as facemasks.

RSDL does not rely on absorption but on chemical reactivity. “It sounds a little like a magic bullet that one chemistry is going to neutralize all known chemical warfare agents,” Henry admitted. “But all agents are designed to do two things: to penetrate skin and to attack cells that will incapacitate or kill the victim. If we can change the chemical functionality of the agent ever so slightly, it will be either ineffective against the target cells or it won’t penetrate the skin in the first place.”

RSDL has been tested on dozens of next-generation chemical agents both in the United States and in Canada and has been found to be efficacious, according to Henry. It has also been tested by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as part of a study funded by DoD, the Department of Homeland Security and the New York City Fire Department and was found to be effective against such nontraditional agents as sulfuric acid, nitric acid and certain pesticides.

In addition to the U.S. and Canadian militaries, Bracco Diagnostics sells RSDL to NATO and to the Dutch, German, Irish and Australian militaries, as well as to the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the United States Secret Service and the Capitol Hill police.

RSDL is designed to be carried by warfighters and used by them individually as a first response to exposure to chemical warfare agents. A second response to such an exposure would occur when warfighters are evacuated from the contaminated site. Wel-Fab Inc., based in Lumberton, N.J., has developed an end-to-end system which can be deployed quickly, enabling warfighters to complete a decontamination protocol in the immediate aftermath of their exposure. Wel-Fab has sold several hundred of its lightweight inflatable decontamination system, or LIDS, to the U.S. Army and Air Force over the last three years.

The building blocks of LIDS are a series of inflatable, tent-like shelters that allow contaminated warfighters to move easily from one decontamination stage to the next. The system includes five inflatable shelters, 10 feet by 10 feet by 8 feet, including four processing stations and one misting shower station. Each shelter inflates within 60 seconds. The system can be set up by six people and can be fully operational within 22 minutes.

“The shelters provide overhead protection and shading without restricting air flow and while improving the off-gassing process,” said Bobby Clark, Wel-Fab’s vice president of marketing and sales. “Each shelter also comes equipped with two lights for nighttime operations.”

LIDS is set up as a series of four zones, with several stations within each zone. “Each zone is staggered so harmful agents do not travel from one zone to the next,” said Clark. “An attendant is positioned at each station to perform the decontamination procedures in the proper sequence.”

For example, at the first station, the warfighter removes his overcape while the attendant washes his boots and removes his gloves. The warfighter then enters a misting station and then repeats that procedure, once with his arms raised and the next with the arms down.

At another station the attendant pats the warfighter down with M295 or an RSDL sponge. At yet another, the attendant removes all external equipment.

Further down the line, the attendant mists, wipes and finally removes headgear. Toward the end of the process, the warfighter is monitored for exposure. If given the all clear, the warfighter dons temporary clothing and proceeds to a non-toxic area. If toxins measure too high, the warfighter removes his cotton undergarments and is monitored again.

Wel-Fab has also developed a mobile decontamination unit that can be towed by any vehicle with towing capabilities. The unit consists of a Wel-Fab-developed Oasis trailer measuring 104 inches by 82.5 inches by 35 inches, a hot water pressure washer, two 650-watt service lights, a 2,700-watt five-horsepower engine, and a water container. The hot water pressure washer uses a gasoline engine, and the charging system uses diesel fuel or kerosene so that the system requires no electrical power source.

“The unit requires minimum storage space and can be used in different locations,” said Clark. “It can be easily transported where needed to meet quick response timelines and it contains all of the equipment required to sustain critical decontamination operation in chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive environment.” The Wel-Fab mobile decontamination unit was recently stationed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and has also been acquired by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Warfighters entering an area where chemical weapons might be deployed wear specially designed chemical suits, made of butyl rubber or other material. If exposed to chemical contamination, some argue that the suit can be decontaminated for future use.

Others, such as Jason Cole, technical services director at Kappler Inc., a protective garment company based in Guntersville, Ala., disagree, saying that while the exterior of the suit may be decontaminated, it is impossible to completely decontaminate a chemical suit which has been penetrated by a noxious agent.

“Our argument is that you can never decontaminate a suit enough,” said Cole. “The best thing to do is to decontaminate the outside of the suit, get out, and then dispose of the suit. Most people would agree that they wouldn’t want to take the risk of putting people in harm’s way. From a risk standpoint, it is cheaper to replace the suit.”

But Kappler is attempting to solve this problem by developing a suit with self-decontamination capabilities. “We are doing research in conjunction with several military-funded projects that would allow us to work some reactive chemicals into the fabric of the chemical suits,” explained Cole. “That would be a huge advance in the technology of chemical suits. We are looking into several different technologies—all of which work on the principle of a chemical decontaminant. If the suit itself does the decontamination so that you don’t have to use a decontamination person.”

The main technology Kappler is working with involves reactive nanoparticles such as metal oxides, which have been shown to mitigate the toxicity of and sometimes destroy toxic chemical and biological agents. “These are embedded in the fabric of the suit and react with the chemical agents to make them less harmful,” said Cole. “The nanoscale range of the particles involved allows them to cover a lot of surface area for their size.”

The contracts Kappler is working on were let through the Air Force, the Army and the JPEO-CBD. “We have come a long way in demonstrating the capability,” said Cole, “although it is not yet at the point that it can be commercialized. We hope to see a lot of progress on this project within the next year or two.”

The JPEO-CBD is pursuing other technology advances in sorbents, coatings and physical removal, all of which are designed to reduce the logistics burden, manpower requirements and lost operational capability associated with decontamination operations. JPEO-CBD’s joint program manager for decontamination products is seeking to further accelerate the decontamination process.

The Joint Service Sensitive Equipment Decontamination (JSSED) system is a program designed to develop a system for expedited decontamination of sensitive equipment across the DoD. The non-aqueous decontaminate solution will provide a tactical mission capability, allowing for rapid decontamination of sensitive equipment so that that they can be returned to unrestricted use.

The Sorbent Decontamination Systems (SDS) M100 is intended to replace the M11 and M13 decontamination apparatuses; portable (DAPS) are currently employed in immediate decontamination spraydown operations. The M100 SDS uses a reactive sorbent powder to remove and neutralize chemical agents from surfaces. Use of the M100 SDS decreases decontamination time and eliminates the need for water.

The Joint Service Family of Decontamination Systems (JSFDS) is a DoD-wide effort to incorporate a family of decontamination systems that will provide personnel, equipment and area decontamination of chemical and biological warfare agents. The idea is to develop a common set of chemical and biological decontamination systems for equipment, facilities and personnel.

The Joint Platform Interior Decontamination (JPID) system will decontaminate chemical and biological warfare agents on the interior of aircraft, vehicles, ships and buildings. JPID will proceed under two increments. Increment I will provide capabilities to decontaminate interior areas and equipment. Increment II will focus on improving decontamination processes, speed, efficacy and other system capabilities. ♦