Citation:

Oudejans, L., D. See, C. Dodds, M. Corlew, AND M. Magnuson. Decontamination Options for Indoor Surfaces Contaminated with Realistic Fentanyl Preparations. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 297:113327, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113327

Impact/Purpose:

Illicit fentanyl use activities that result in the contamination of indoor environments continue to rise. Each incident creates an exposure risk to law enforcement, first responders, and remediation contractors. Remediation operations will benefit from improved knowledge on in situ neutralization options of fentanyl and its analogs on building materials. This manuscript contains results from decontamination research that was initiated to fill select gaps identified during the development of EPA’s Fentanyl Fact Sheet for OSCs. The results of this research will inform the EPA response community as well as other Federal, State, Tribal and Local agencies on the means to decontaminate sites and personnel contaminated with fentanyl.

Description:

The significant increase in illegal use of the synthetic opioid fentanyl is leading to unintentional overdose fatalities. Spills of fentanyl where it is abused or prepared for illegal distribution can result in persistent contamination of areas. Remediation can be attempted through physical removal but may benefit from application of decontamination solutions that provide in-situ degradation of fentanyl. This work investigates the efficacy of decontamination technologies for degradation of fentanyl-HCl on indoor surfaces. Decontamination studies were conducted to evaluate the oxidative degradation of fentanyl based on percarbonate, hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, and chlorine (bleach) chemistries. This study utilized an experimental design relevant to field operations to provide direct information to first or hazardous materials responders and providers of environmental fentanyl remediation services, who may otherwise rely on unverified approaches. Across a range of nonporous, indoor surfaces, results suggest that water spraying alone can physically remove 70-90% of fentanyl. In nearly all cases, addition of oxidants resulted in statistically significant degradation of fentanyl for oxidants based on peracetic acid or chlorine, with lower efficacy for other oxidants. However, the decontamination efficacy was significantly reduced upon the addition of cutting agents that competed for oxidant demand.

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