Antimicrobial Activity and Degradation Ability Study on Nanoparticle-Enriched Formulations Specially Designed for the Neutralization of Real and Simulated Biological and Chemical Warfare Agents.

Raluca-Elena Ginghina,Gabriel Craciun,Claudiu Lazaroaie,Ramona-Elena Oncioiu,George-Ovidiu Iorga,Cosmin Romanitan,Mihai Constantin,Tudor-Viorel Tiganescu,Adriana-Elena Bratu,Florina-Lucica Zorila,Munizer Purica,Gabriela Toader,Florin Comanescu

doi:10.3390/ph15010097

Abstract

The present work reveals a comprehensive decontamination study on real and simulated biological and chemical warfare agents (BCWA). The emphasis was on evaluating the antimicrobial activity against real biological warfare agents, such as Bacillus anthracis, and also the capacity of neutralizing real chemical warfare agents, such as mustard gas or soman, by employing three different types of organic solutions enriched with ZnO, TiO2, and zeolite nanoparticles, specially designed for decontamination applications. The capacity of decontaminating BCWA was evaluated through specific investigation tools, including surface monitoring with the swabs method, minimum inhibitory (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) evaluations, time-kill tests for microorganisms, and GC-MS for monitoring chemical agents on different types of surfaces (glass, painted metal, rubber, and cotton butyl rubber). These tests revealed high decontamination factors for BCWA even after only 10 min, accomplishing the requirements imposed by NATO standards. At the completion of the decontamination process, the formulations reached 100% efficacy for Bacillus anthracis after 10–15 min, for soman after 20–30 min, and for mustard gas in an interval comprised between 5 and 24 h depending on the type of surface analyzed.

Highlights

Considering all the drawbacks of the existing decontamination methods and inspired by the recent findings in the field of BCWA, this paper proposes novel solutions, consisting of innovative nanoparticle-enriched formulations specially designed for the inactivation of real and simulated biological and chemical warfare agents
The3. present work is comprised of a decontamination study on real and simulated biological and chemical in which focus was on evaluating the and antimiThe presentwarfare work isagents, comprised of a the decontamination study on real simulated crobial activity and capacity of neutralizing the chemical warfare agents of three different biological and chemical warfare agents, in which the focus was on evaluating the antimitypes ofcrobial organic solutions with
This study focused on the investigation of the antimicrobial activity and degradation ability of three distinct types of nanoparticle-enriched formulations specially designed for the neutralization of real and simulated biological and real chemical warfare agents

Summary

Introduction

Biological and chemical warfare agents (BCWA) for mass destruction have been used in military conflicts and, the risk of being used by terrorist organizations is imminent [1]. Both biological and chemical warfare agents can be designated as weapons of terror against civilians or weapons of intimidation for the soldiers [2]. The use of biological warfare agents became more refined during the 19th century due to the advancements of modern microbiology which made possible the isolation and production of considerable stocks of specific pathogens [3,4]. During the first World War, the use of Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and Pseudomonas pseudomallei (glanders) as biological

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Conclusion