ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Federal authorities are using a decontamination formulation developed at the National Nuclear Security Administrations (NNSA) Sandia National Laboratories to help rid Capitol Hill buildings of anthrax this week.

Cleanup workers have taken quantities of the formulation with them into Congressional office buildings as one of the decontamination products selected to help remediate the Hart Senate Office Complex and the Dirkson and Ford Congressional Offices in Washington, D.C. They also are preparing to use the foam to decontaminate mailrooms on Capitol Hill contaminated with anthrax.

Two Sandia researchers are on site in Washington as technical advisors. Sandia licensed rights to commercialize the chem-bio formulation (often referred to as a Sandia licensed rights to commercialize the chem-bio formulation (often referred to as a decon foam) to two companies last year Modec, Inc. (Denver, Colo.) and EnviroFoam Technologies (Huntsville, Ala.) following a five-year research and development project at Sandia funded by the NNSAs Chemical and Biological National Security Program. (For more about the formulations development, see http://www.sandia.gov/media/cbwfoam.htm).

The formulation, a cocktail that includes ordinary household substances such as those found in hair conditioner and toothpaste, neutralizes both chemical and biological agents in minutes. It can be applied to a contaminated surface as a liquid spray, mist, fog, or foam.

Traditional decontaminating products typically are based on bleach, chlorinated solvents, or other hazardous or corrosive materials. Many are designed to work against only a limited number of either chemical or biological agents.

The Sandia formulation works against a wide variety of both chemical and biological agents and is non-toxic, non-corrosive, and environmentally friendly. In multiple independent lab tests and military fie
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Contact: John German
jdgerma@sandia.gov
505-844-5199
DOE/Sandia National Laboratories
31-Oct-2001