Decontamination Options for Restoring Functionality of Critical Infrastructure following a Bacillus anthracis Incident
Citation:
Ryan, S. Decontamination Options for Restoring Functionality of Critical Infrastructure following a Bacillus anthracis Incident. U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC, EPA/600/S-17/466, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
Critical infrastructure represents a wide range of possible functions, institutions or businesses. After a wide-area release of B. anthracis, the functionality of affected power plants, water and sewer services, law enforcement, fire protection, and hospitals and other health care institutions must be restored. Restoring the functionality of infrastructure requires technologies capable of decontaminating sensitive equipment such as mechanical, electronic, or other powered devices that are necessary for facility operations. This technical brief provides decision makers with practical information on decontamination methods that could be used to restore critical infrastructure during a response to a release of Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax. This brief reviews fumigation technologies that have been shown to decontaminate sensitive equipment contaminated with B. anthracis or surrogate spores and provides an overview of the on- and off-site decontamination processes. Overall, the findings from EPA studies show EtO fumigation [2, 3] to have the least impact electronic equipment. However, it is recommended that EtO fumigation occur with the object removed to another location (ex situ) within the site or off-site in a controlled environment, which will limit its use in a wide-area incident. Hydrogen peroxide and MeBr (without chloropicrin) could be considered valid options for whole-building/room fumigations with sensitive items.
Description:
Technical Summary