Evaluation of Decontamination Systems Challenged with Nerve Agents

Current doctrine describes the use of the M291 Skin Decontamination Kit (SDK), 0.5% hypochlorite solution (household bleach diluted 1 to 10) and 1% soapy water solution to decontaminate skin exposed to chemical warfare agents. Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion (RSDL) is a new product being considered and was recently approved by the FDA. This study directly compares the efficacy of these four decontamination products, in the clipped haired guinea pig model, following challenges by soman (GD), VX, and Russian VX (VR). The protective ratio (PR) was calculated from the derived median lethal dose-response curves established for each agent and nondecontaminated control animals. RSDL was found to be the most effective decontamination system, whereas the M291 SDK was the least effective.