Universal Decontaminant for Neutralization of Nerve and Vesicant Chemical Warfare Agents

Abstract

The invention describes a method of obtaining a composition with universal neutralizing action, intended for urgent decontamination of human skin, animal fur, clothes, equipment and premises, contaminated with organophosphorus nerve agents (VX, GB and GD) or sulfuric vesicants (НD). The mentioned toxicants can be used as part of chemical warfare (CW), industrially used pesticides or pharmacological components. Decontamination composition according to the invention is produced and supplied as a dry mixture of active ingredients that should be mixed with water before use. The mixture consists of a peroxosolvate (hydrogen peroxide – urea, a nucleophilic oxidizing agent), an activator (either ammonium bicarbonate or boric acid), a cationic surfactant (for micelle formation) and sodium hydroxide (for рН regulation). The proposed decontamination composition provides 99% degradation of diethyl 4-nitrophenyl phosphate (paraoxon, used as a nerve agent simulant) by nucleophilic mechanism in 30 seconds. The time it takes for the same composition to provide 99% oxidation of methyl phenyl sulfide (used as a vesicant CW agent simulant) is up to 30 minutes. Mentioned chemical processes can be accelerated significantly by adjusting decontamination system рН levels: at рН˃10 the rate of nucleophilic substitution increases, while at рН<10 oxidation reactions accelerate.