Decontamination Options for Sensitive Equipment-related Materials Contaminated with a Fourth Generation Agent
Citation:
Sherrieb, J., D. Mangino, L. Oudejans, AND M. Magnuson. Decontamination Options for Sensitive Equipment-related Materials Contaminated with a Fourth Generation Agent. 2023 US EPA Decontamination Research and Development Conference, Charleston, SC, December 05 - 07, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
A release of Fourth Generation Agent (FGA) will create an acute and significant exposure risk to the public as well as remediation contractors who would be tasked to cleanup a contaminated site. It would require decontamination of the contaminated area which may hold sensitive equipment or other artifacts of historic or high value which requires high compatibility with the decontaminant in addition to high efficacy. This abstract and presentation describe research that was conducted to measure the decontamination efficacy of various decontaminants on sensitive equipment related materials contaminated with an FGA. The results of this research will inform the EPA response community and other Federal, State, Tribal and Local agencies on remediation options following an FGA release.
Description:
EPA has conducted prior decontamination research for traditional CWAs, but there is a scientific data gap for decontamination technologies capable of remediating sensitive equipment contaminated with a Fourth Generation Agent (FGA). The purpose of this project was to evaluate the efficacy of commercial-off-the-shelf hydrogen peroxide-based and/or peroxyacetic acid-based decontamination technologies for decontamination of one FGA (A-234) on sensitive equipment materials. The decontaminants investigated include Dahlgren Decon™, Decon PLUS™, and EasyDECON® DF200, all of which use peroxy- species for oxidation and surfactants to enhance transport of the oxidant to the contaminant. These types of decontaminants are generally considered less corrosive than hypochlorite-based oxidants and hence have been proposed to have increased compatibility with sensitive equipment, which are susceptible to corrosive chemicals. The four sensitive materials selected for this study were acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), silicone, Gorilla Glass®, and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS). These materials are frequently encountered in protective housings for electronics, seals, gaskets, keyboards, and detector equipment. In addition, two types of sensitive equipment (water-resistant calculators and iPhones) were also included in the study. Following the specified decontaminant dwell periods, the test coupons, wipes and/or decontaminant overspray/rinsates were extracted in organic solvent and analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to quantify the mass of A-234 remaining in the extracts. Results indicate that a combination of physical removal and degradation can lead to high (better than 99%) efficacy. However, one decontaminant only caused the physical removal without degradation leaving significant amounts of A-234 in the liquid runoff.