RESUMEN
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.
RESUMEN
This paper comprises an extensive study on the evaluation of decontamination efficiency of three types of reactive organic suspensions (based on nanosized adsorbents) on two real chemical warfare agents: soman (GD) and sulfur mustard (HD). Three types of nanoparticles (ZnO, TiO2, and zeolite) were employed in the decontamination formulations, for enhancing the degradation of the toxic agents. The efficacy of each decontamination solution was investigated by means of GC-MS analysis, considering the initial concentration of toxic agent and the residual toxic concentration, measured at different time intervals, until the completion of the decontamination process. The conversion of the two chemical warfare agents (HD and GD) into their decontamination products was also monitored for 24 h.
RESUMEN
In the context of imminent threats concerning biological and chemical warfare agents, the aim of this study was the development of a new method for biological and chemical decontamination, employing non-toxic, film-forming, water-based biodegradable solutions, using a nano sized reagent together with bentonite as trapping agents for the biological and chemical contaminants. Bentonite-supported nanoparticles of Cu, TiO2, and Ag were successfully synthesized and dispersed in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/glycerol (GLY) aqueous solution. The decontamination effectiveness of the proposed solutions was evaluated by qualitative and quantitative analytical techniques on various micro-organisms, with sulfur mustard (HD) and dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) as contaminants. The results indicate that the peelable active nanocomposite films can be successfully used on contaminated surfaces to neutralize and entrap the hazardous materials and their degradation products. Mechanical and thermal characterization of the polymeric films was also performed to validate the decontamination solution's potential as peelable-film generating materials. The removal efficacy from the contaminated surfaces for the tested micro-organisms varied between 93% and 97%, while for the chemical agent HD, the highest decontamination factor obtained was 90.89%. DMMP was almost completely removed from the contaminated surfaces, and a decontamination factor of 99.97% was obtained.