Search of Biotechnology-Based Decontaminants for C/BW Agents

Abstract

Current decontamination procedures for C/BW agents depend on temperature treatment and chemically reactive components, e. g. strong oxidants and chemical disinfectants. However, these techniques and compounds are not always suitable for different materials. Furthermore, they cause logistic problems and are themselves hazardous, corrosive and questionable from an environmental viewpoint. In the German Federal Armed Forces hypochlorite and formaldehyde are presently the main reactive components for C/BW-decontamination. The common goals of the various treatments are to rapidly destroy known CW agents as well as to disinfect bacteria, fungi and protozoa, inactivate viruses and detoxify toxins. For all decontamination procedures applied to clothing, material and vehicles the German Armed Forces prefer a combined technique for CW and BW. The decontamination of BW agents including bacterial spores and low molecular mass toxins, which have proved to be highly resistant to temperature and disinfectants, has become a particular challenge with respect to optimizing the parameters of efficiency, logistic burden and environmental impact. In order to search for novel reactive components we have started to focus on biotechnology-based decontaminants. As will be described in this paper, several biotechnological approaches may become appropriate alternatives to existing protective measures against C/BW agents. Moreover, they might in many cases be superior to the latter, as they allow reactions under mild conditions and follow mainly a highly effective catalytic rather than stoichiometric principle.