cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold) (08/24/90)
From: cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold) > > From: Will Martin <wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL> > One point I haven't seen mentioned in the subject discussion: I thought one > of the primary decontamination techniques is to wash down and hose off the > contaminated personnel, while still in their protective suits, and to so > treat the vehicles before the unprotected inhabitants emerge. This takes > lots of water, and is a good idea in the European theatre, where there are > many lakes and streams and rivers close by. How is this going to be done > in the desert? Does sandblasting take its place? > Right. Here is a synopsis from "Guidebook for Marines", which I think is essentially still correct: SUPER TROPICAL BLEACH HOW USED: either in pure form or dry mix (2 parts bleach to 3 parts earth, or wet mix (slurry) 1 pail water to 6 shovelfuls bleach). If possible, leave on surface 24 hours. One pound bleach makes enough slurry to cover 1 square yard of average contamination. ACTION: reacts with liquid blister agents to form nonvesicant compound, but pure form indirect contact with pools of liquid blister agents reacts violently to cause flame and heavy vapor. Generally used as dry mix or wet mix. Is chemically active, causing vigorous corrosion. (strong oxidizing agent - I expect it would react with nerve agents.) WASHING SODA (SODIUM CARBONATE) HOW USED: Add 2 poinds of soda to 2.5 gal of very hot water, stir rapidly, apply hot to contaminated surfaces. ACTION: Destroys blister agents, but much slower than bleach or caustic soda. CAUSTIC SODA (LYE) HOW USED: Caustic soda is used in solution with water. Especially effective for destroying Lewisite. Decontamination faster with concentrated solution. ACTION: Neutralizes chemical agents and biological agents. CAUTION: Both solid and solution damage skin, eyes, and clothing. Do not use for personnel decontamination. WATER OR STEAM HOW USED: Apply under high pressure; action of hot water is speeded if soap or other detergent is used. ACTION: Removes dirt or grease containing chemical agent. FUELS AND SOLVENTS HOW USED: Spray fuel on contaminated surfaces and ignite; solvent (like gasoline, kerosene, or oil) is applied with swabs. Do not spread contamination. ACTION: Ignited fuel destroys agents by burning; solvents merely dilute them, but if diluted enough most contamination disappears. Residue remains dangerous. ------ So the need for water is apparent; the "dry" method with bleach might be used (plenty of sand, what?), but it does not sound like a good method. The above applies mostly to equipment. The nerve agents GA, GB, and GD (Iraqui brand) are not very persistent, and decompose naturally in 12-18 hours. The V-agents and thickened V-agents are much more persistent, and would have to be removed. I expect that any of the strong oxidizing chemicals like bleach or caustic soda would do the job, but I didn't see any direct references. Personnel decontamination is done by getting out of the suit and into new clothing. For skin decon, there are kits with chemically impregnated towlettes; the impression is that you better not get much skin contaminated. Other personal decon instructions call for "flushing with water", and "washing with soap and water". In the field, this means that you strip at the "dirty" end of a decon station (showers), shower 2-3 times going through under watch of monitors and medics, and then don new clothing at the "clean" end. Lots of water. Remember that one drop of nerve agent on exposed skin is enough to do the job; you would have maybe 1-2 minutes to get this off to avoid fatal dose, and even then you would have symptoms and probably be ineffective (100% casualty). The blister agents are more "forgiving", in that you have a bit more time to decontaminate, and you would not be 100% incapacitated (exception: eyes, lungs, mouth - yes, mouth - eating contaminated food).
simon@relay.EU.net (Simon Taylor) (08/30/90)
From: Simon Taylor <vision!simon@relay.EU.net> In article <1990Aug24.034223.947@cbnews.att.com> cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold) writes: > > >From: cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold) >> >> From: Will Martin <wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL> >> One point I haven't seen mentioned in the subject discussion: I thought one >> of the primary decontamination techniques is to wash down and hose off the >> contaminated personnel, while still in their protective suits, and to so >> treat the vehicles before the unprotected inhabitants emerge. This takes >> lots of water, and is a good idea in the European theatre, where there are >> many lakes and streams and rivers close by. How is this going to be done >> in the desert? Does sandblasting take its place? I read in a recent copy of New Scientist that the US Army had large stocks of a chemical decontaminating solution called Decontamination Solution 2 (DS2), that is so dangerous, that it is never used in training, and in fact has never been used in any situation ! The article also questioned the use of this stuff on the basis that, it was so corrosive that the drums it is contained in leak after a few years storage, Also that expired stock was being used as weedkiller. Does anyone know anything more about DS2, what are its constituents, has any shipped out to the Gulf? Simon Taylor Support & Training Manager VisionWare Ltd UUCP : simon@vision.uucp 57 Cardigan Lane BANGNET : ...!uunet!mcsun!ukc!vision!simon Leeds PHONE : +44 532 788858 Ext. 228 LS4 2LE FAX : +44 532 304676 England ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- VisionWare: The Home Of DOS-UNIX Integration ----------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------