Research and Development of On-site Decontamination System for Biological and Chemical Warfare Agents

Abstract

Biological and chemical warfare agents (BCWAs) are diverse in nature including synthetic low molecular weight chemical warfare agents (gaseous choking and blood agents), volatile nerve gases and blister agents, non-volatile vomit agents and lachrymators, biological toxins (polar low molecular weight toxins and proteinous toxins), and microorganisms (viruses, rickettsia, chlamydia and bacteria). In the consequence management against chemical and biological warfare terrorism, speedy decontamination of casualties, goods, items and equipments, buildings and field is required for the minimization of the terrorism damage. At present, washing casualties and contaminated materials with large volumes of water is the basic way, and hypochlorite solution is mainly used to decompose BCWAs. However, it still remains unsolved how to dispose the waste water contaminated with BCWAs, and decontaminating reagents have serious problems of high toxicity to human, despoiling nature to environment, long finishing time and non-durability. In addition, the present decontamination technologies are not effective, nonspecifically affecting the surrounding non-target materials. Therefore, it is the urgent matter to build up usable decontamination system surpassing the present system. The author introduces the joint project of research and development of the novel decontamination system against BCWAs, in the purpose of realizing non-dangerous, rapid, specific, effective and economical on-site decontamination. The project consists of establishment of the evaluation methods for decontamination, and verification of the present technologies and utilization of bacterial organophosphorus hydrolase, development of specific adsorptive elimination technologies using molecular recognition devices, and development of deactivation technologies using photocatalysis.