ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Decontamination MethodsA volunteer is scrubbed by hospital workers wearing biohazard suits during an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital bioterrorism decontamination drill in March 2002.AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS.contaminant in the wash fluid, which should itself becollected for proper disposal. Washing is not a completedecontamination. Residual contaminant can remain behindin cracks or other hiding places. However, the use ofhigh-pressure sprays can be an effective and rapid meansof decontaminating surfaces like walls and floors.Chemical methods. Chemical decontamination goes furtherthan merely removing a contaminant from the environment.Rather, in chemical decontamination the adsorbingchemical neutralizes a contaminant. One example of chemicalneutralization is the adsorption of a contaminant bymaterial that is impregnated with an alkaline chemical.Another general example is the use of chemically reactivecompounds that interact with the contaminant and changeits structure into a form that is non-toxic.A popular chemical decontamination strategy relieson the use of oxidizing agents. Bleach is a well-knownexample of an oxidizing agent. The use of oxidizing compoundssuch as calcium hypochlorite or sodiumEncyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Securityhypochlorite inactivates a variety of chemical compoundsas well as dangerous microorganisms such as bacteriaand viruses.Oxidizing agents can be wiped onto a spill and collectedin an absorbent material. As well, some oxidizingagents can be incorporated into topical lotions, which aresmeared onto the skin to help inactivate a chemical orbiological spill.A recent innovative example of an oxidizing agent isL-Gel. Developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,L-Gel uses potassium peroxymonosulfate to deactivatea variety of biological agents, including anthrax sporesand Yersinia pestis (the bacterium that causes plague).The thick gel is able to cling to surfaces better than water,especially to steeply sloping surfaces like walls, whichkeeps the decontaminant in contact with the target longerthan using a straight water-based decontaminant. It ishoped that a powdered formulation of the product willsoon be available for use in ventilation ducts, where cleanup of chemical and biological agents is especially difficult.317