Global Security Newswire

U.S. military scientists have designed several new agents that could be used to neutralize chemical, biological and radiological weapons materials without generating byproducts damaging to humans or the ecosystem, the American Chemical Society announced last week (see GSN, April 21).

The new "Decon Green" decontaminants use a mixture of peroxides, bicarbonates and other ingredients to create peroxyanions, ions highly effective in eliminating nerve agent and other chemicals that could be employed by terrorists. Current cleaners incorporate chlorine or lye, which could produce a different dangerous material if combined with chemical warfare materials and environmental substances. A wide-scale cleansing involving those materials could also produce a potentially threatening effluent.

The decontaminants were also found to be effective in neutralizing anthrax spores and eliminating radioactive cobalt and cesium from flat surfaces, according to the group, which published a study of the newly developed agents.

One of the decontaminants is effective in temperatures below freezing, while a powder-based variant could be easily moved and then mixed with water before use (American Chemical Society release, April 28).