The efficacy of currently available decontamination strategies for the treatment of indoor furnishings contaminated with bioterrorism agents is poorly understood. Efficacy testing of decontamination products in a controlled environment is needed to ensure that effective methods are used to decontaminate domestic and workplace settings. An experimental room supplied with materials used in office...

Although the principles of pediatric decontamination are similar as those for adults, the actual practice is much more challenging. The unique needs and vulnerabilities of children will require health care personnel to be sensitive to developmental stages of the victims and physiological hazards during decontamination. Unless medically indicated, families should undergo decontamination together...

Due to an increase of the nuclear power plant, radioactive waste is also increasing trend and due to the large amount of radioactive waste disposal costs also increase. Decontamination of soil contamination is depending on the soil characteristics and environmental factor, so single decontamination method is difficult for effective decontamination. We need innovative method to decontamination, ...

Vaporous decontamination methods were used in the remediation of anthrax contaminated buildings following the 2001 attacks in the U.S.A. Since then the development of vaporous decontamination methods has received considerable interest with significant advancements in the area of CB decontamination of buildings and sensitive equipment. This document reviews the current state of vaporous decontam...

Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during fires and from their personal protective equipment (PPE). Recent research has shown that decontamination processes can reduce contamination on both gear and skin. While firefighter cultures that honor dirty gear are changing, little is known about current attitude...

The risk of incidents involving mass decontamination in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear release has increased in recent years, due to technological advances, and the willingness of terrorists to use unconventional weapons. Planning for such incidents has focused on the technical issues involved, rather than on psychosocial concerns. This paper presents a novel exper...

Previous studies have demonstrated that rapid evacuation, disrobing and emergency decontamination can enhance the ability of emergency services and acute hospitals to effectively manage chemically-contaminated casualties. The purpose of this human volunteer study was to further optimise such an "Initial Operational Response" by (1) identifying an appropriate method for performing improvised ski...

An innovative bulky photocatalyst for water decontamination has been developed. The semiconductor (TiO2) is homogeneously distributed in an aggregating material through the whole piece. This design prevents activity reduction usually observed supported catalysts due to loss of photoactive layer, and facilitates its recovery easy reuse, which a recurrent problem dealing with nanoparticles. combi...

Chemical and biological warfare agents (CBWA's) are diverse in nature; volatile acute low-molecular-weight toxic compounds, chemical warfare agents (CWA's, gaseous choking and blood agents, volatile nerve gases and blister agents, nonvolatile vomit agents and lacrymators), biological toxins (nonvolatile low-molecular-weight toxins, proteinous toxins) and microbes (bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae...

The occurrence of nucleic acid cross contamination in the laboratory resulting in false positive results of diagnostic samples is seriously problematic. Despite precautions to minimize or even avoid nucleic acid cross contaminations, it may appear anyway. Until now, no standardized strategy is available to evaluate the efficacy of commercially offered decontamination reagents. Therefore, a prot...