Researchers at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) and CBI Polymer recently explored how a HydroGel can be modified to decontaminate surfaces contaminated with harmful biological agents, such as the anthrax-inducing Bacillus anthracis.
HydroGel is a biosynthetic polymer that can be applied in a variety of ways. It then dries into a film that can be peeled away and disposed of with little to no threat to the environment or operators. The film does not produce harmful waste and actively traps any toxic contaminant, such as biological spores, removing the threat of the agent seeping back into the air.
“In current methods, if you suspect that a surface is contaminated you would either use a wipe or a swab to rub down the surface, collect whatever is on it and analyze it in hopes of identifying what the substance is,” Vipin Rastogi, senior research biologist at ECBC, said. “We wanted to answer the question: could the original HydroGel be used to collect, preserve, and retrieve bio samples for analysis and characterization?”
Rastogi said that the team has helped develop the HydroGel and DeconGel, another decontaminating agent that could remove biological spores from four surfaces commonly found in subways, including steel, aluminum, concrete and tile.
“Underground train stations are very complex with all types of curves and angles,” Rastogi said. “There are multiple types of surfaces next to each other that are architecturally challenging. A technology such as DeconGel, which is easy to apply in hard to reach places, could be a real game changer for this scenario-specific decontamination.”