Chemists with the United States military have developed a set of ultra-strength cleaners that could be used in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. The new formulas are tough enough to get rid of nerve gas, mustard gas, radioactive isotopes, and anthrax. But they are also non-toxic, based on ingredients found in foods, cosmetics, and other consumer products. A detailed evaluation of the cleansers appears in ACS’ Industrial Engineering and Chemistry Research, a bi-monthly journal.
George Wagner and colleagues explained that chlorine- and lye-based decontamination agents have serious drawbacks. In addition to being potentially hazardous, they can react with chemical weapons and materials in the environment to form new toxic substances. If the military needed to decontaminate a large area, the runoff could harm people and the environment. To solve that problem, military scientists developed the Decon Green suite of decontamination agents. The main ingredients in each Decon Green formula are peroxides, the same substances that are in many household cleaners and whitening toothpaste. To bolster their effectiveness, the peroxides are mixed with bicarbonates or other non-toxic bases. That combination produces peroxyanions, highly reactive ions that can clean just about anything. It ensures that chemical weapons, like nerve gas, will break down completely.
Wagner describes putting the new cleaning agents through an exhaustive battery of tests. His team concluded that each formula can break down toxic chemicals, rather than just washing them away. They also showed that Decon Green is quite good at killing anthrax spores, and removing radioactive cesium and cobalt from smooth surfaces. One of the formulas that they tested can work in sub-zero temperatures. Another is a powder, which can be easily transported and mixed with water at the scene of an emergency. All but one of the ingredients in liquid Decon Green can be found in food, cosmetics, hygiene products, or vitamin pills.
ARTICLE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“All-Weather Hydrogen Peroxide-Based Decontamination of CBRN Contaminants”
DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ARTICLE
http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/ie9019177
CONTACT:
George Wagner, Ph.D.
United States Army
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
Phone: (410) 436-8468
Fax: (410) 436-7203
Email: [email protected]
Here is a cleaner i developed that is non toxic and can be used for the oil spill, check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbTglNfEMTI
Please look out the physical and chemical properties of nerve and mustard agents. Neither are gases. I would think I blog about science would not this.
But the real question is… does it work on oil?
Oh noes! Not the dreaded DHMO! I’ve been framed! It’s a conspiracy!
Excuse me while I run for the hills. Wait, wasn’t that where the terrorists hang out? And plan new operations via the internet? Doubleplus oh noes! What shall i do?!?
I heard an intriguing rumor that the officials need to hear: the user “Cellar” has a pipeline of dihydrogen monoxide running right into his house! And we all know that hydrogen is what evil governments use to create hydrogen bombs. So “Cellar” has a stream of nuclear weapon components directly to his house. Beware! :-)
Peroxides? PEROXIDES? You mean that stuff that TERRORISTS use to make BINARY LIQUID EXPLOSIVES? Those very PEROXIDES? Look mom, the military are TERRORISTS TOO, for they USE LIQUID BINARY EXPLOSIVE COMPONENTS!
Best not use on an aeroplane then. It might go off all by itself if you merely carry this stuff on. Or so the TSA would have you believe.
Why the mention of terrorists anyway? Governments stock more and better of that stuff, and the average citizen is just as, no, rather quite a lot more, likely to fall victim to government brand stupidity, too. Believing government propaganda means your cleaning agents might go boom.