Abstract
This study addresses the individual decontamination of chemical warfare agents (CWA) and other hazardous substances. The individual decontamination applies to contaminated body surfaces, protective clothing and objects immediately after contamination, performed individually or by mutual assistance using prescribed or improvised devices. The article evaluates the importance of individual decontamination, security level for Fire and Rescue Service Units of the Czech Republic (FRS CR) and demonstrates some of the devices. The decontamination efficiency of selected methods (sorbent, glove and sponge, two-chamber foam device and wiping with alcohol) was evaluated for protective clothing and painted steel plate contaminated with O-ethyl-S-(diisopropylaminoethyl)-methylthiophosphonate (VX), sulfur mustard, o-cresol and acrylonitrile. The methods were assessed from an economic point of view and with regard to specific user parameters, such as the decontamination of surfaces or materials with poor accessibility and vertical surfaces, the need for a water rinse as well as toxic waste and its disposal.
Highlights
This paper focused on the decontamination of chemical warfare agents (CWA) and other hazardous substances
It was obvious that procedures based on mechanical sorption and physical methods merely removed the contaminant from surfaces, yielding highly-contaminated waste material, while for the RSDL decontamination sponge and FAST-ACT sorbent, the manufacturers stated that the product decomposed CWA
The device efficiencies for individual decontamination methods were further expressed as percent decontamination efficiencies, which were calculated as the difference between initial and residual contamination divided by the initial contamination multiplied by 100
Summary
Contamination of persons, outer clothing/underwear, animals, food, feed, protective garments, terrain and other objects/materials can be expected during acts of chemical terrorism, war and the misuse/release of chemical warfare agents (CWA) or other hazardous substances. In such situations, decontamination represents a significant measure for active protection against the consequences of uncontrolled or accidental release of CWA or other hazardous substances into the environment. Fire-fighters recognize the term ―individual decontamination‖ to be the decontamination of contaminated areas of the body, protective garments and/or materials/equipment immediately after contamination This is performed individually or by mutual assistance using prescribed or improvised devices. Skin decontamination after five minutes is already ineffective for some CWAs [4]
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