STATEMENT
OF
MR MIKE GROSSER
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, PROGRAM
MANAGER, NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL DEFENSE SYSTEMS
MARINE CORPS SYSTEMS COMMAND
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND
PUBLIC WORKS
UNITED STATES SENATE
4 DECEMBER 2001
CONCERNING
TECHNOLOGIES AVAILABLE FOR
REMEDIATING BUILDINGS CONTAMINATED BY BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINANTS
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am Mr.
Mike Grosser, the Technical Director for the Program Manager, Nuclear, Biological
and Chemical Defense Systems, Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico,
Virginia. I am pleased to appear before
you today to discuss several decontamination technologies that the Marine Corps
and the Joint Chemical and Biological Defense community have been developing
and supporting. I am responsible to the
Program Manager for the oversight of these programs and I have knowledge of the
origin, progress and current status of each.
The Marine Corps has pursued these technologies as
possible solutions to the requirement for an environmentally benign,
patient-friendly and effective personnel and equipment decontaminant. We did not set out to identify a specific
decontaminant for anthrax-contaminated buildings. The technologies that I will talk about are by and large still in
research and development. They have
been, and in fact still are considered as candidates for the Joint Service
Family of Decontaminating Systems Program and may be designated as more
appropriate for use by the first or secondary responders, that is, a municipal
firefighter or a unit such as the Marine Corps Chemical-Biological Incident
Response Force (CBIRF), than the traditional warfighter. While it is possible that one or two of them
may be made available quickly, each has some facet that still requires funding,
research, testing or evaluation. I will
describe four decontamination technologies.
The first technology,
Electrochemical Activated Solution, or ECASOL, was developed in 1972 in Russia
to control oil well biofilms. It is now
used commercially in Russia, Japan, South Africa and the U.K. where it is used for home drinking water
purification units (300,000 units sold) and as a hospital biocide such as
patient decontamination, surface decontamination, surgical device sterilization,
wastewater treatment and is also used for reducing pathogens in food processing
operations (e.g. meat and poultry).
ECASOL was used to purify drinking water in Rwanda during the refugee
crisis in 1994-1995.
ECASOL is a colorless,
odorless aqueous solution made on-site using point-of-use electrolysis of
diluted brine. The brine is exposed to
a mild electrical charge as it passes through a patented Flow-through
Electrolytic Module (FEM), a 10” by 1” diameter tubular device that converts
the brine into a stream of reactive oxidants.
A key benefit of the ECASOL technology is that the oxidant composition
can be precisely controlled over a wide pH range. pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. A ph level of 1 is acidic, and a pH level of
14 is an alkaline. For personnel
decontamination, skin contact requires a near neutral pH. At neutral pH (pH 7) the primary oxidant in
ECASOL is the metastable compound hypochlorous acid. This acid, though safe to skin, eyes and wounds (pH 7), is an
effective biocidal agent. The primary
military personnel decontaminant for medical application is 0.5% HTH (bleach)
which has a pH of 12, is irritating to the skin and not safe for eyes or
wounds.
The Marine Corps began
testing ECASOL in 1998 to assess safety, efficacy and the potential to scale-up
field units for use with first or secondary response personnel. Tests were designed to compare ECASOL’s
efficacy versus 0.5% (5,000 ppm) bleach at destroying biological and chemical
agents.
Some
chemical testing has been conducted but the results were not as promising as
those obtained during biological agent tests.
Before 1998 the largest
ECASOL unit was an 80 FEM (400 Gallon per hour) unit used in a poultry
processing plant. Based on the above
test results the Marine Corps built a 600-gallon per hour prototype generator
to evaluate the potential for use by first response units in personnel
showers. All volume generation targets
and solution parameters were met or exceeded during field trials of that unit.
Although
ECASOL is generated on-site at the point of use, shelf-life or storage
characteristics were examined. ECASOL solutions stored in sealed containers for
seven weeks were found to perform almost as effectively as freshly generated
solutions. Solution parameters of pH,
free chlorine and oxidation-reduction potential showed some deterioration
(<10%), although overall performance was maintained. Again, while this information is important,
the intent of the technology is to produce the decontaminant on site.
Further evaluation is required to identify maximum and minimum effective concentration ranges, effective pH range, efficacy against Toxic Industrial Chemicals and Toxic Industrial Materials (TIC/TIM), evaluation as an aerosol (fog), and potential for decontaminating waste runoff.
Materials and components required to generate the
ECASOL are salt and water (or brine, seawater), electricity and a device
containing FEMs.
ECASOL effluent is
environmentally benign and can be drained into a municipality's sewer system
(demonstrated in Atlanta, GA and Camp Lejeune, NC).
To summarize, ECASOL
is a highly effective biocidal agent.
It has a major advantage over 0.5% bleach because it has a neutral pH
(7) and is safe for eyes, wounds and skin whereas bleach has a pH of 12,
irritates skin and is not safe for eyes or wounds. Although the technology works with aqueous solutions ranging from
saturated brine (for producing chlorine) or just plain water (for water purification)
in dilute solutions (as examined here) it is safe yet effective. The technology
is flexible and has been demonstrated in large scale (600 gallons per hour) as
well as small scale (5 gallons per hour) applications.
The ECASOL device developed for
testing by the Marine Corps could be utilized to conduct the test for
room/building decontamination proof of principle. To
produce
additional prototypes would require purchase of some custom made long lead
items and manufacturing. Three
additional prototypes could be functional and delivered in approximately 120
days. In the interim, the
existing
device is capable of producing 600 gallons of product per hour. A comprehensive
test plan has already been developed for additional efficacy testing (chemical
and biological) that will include additional live agent testing.
The second promising
technology is electrostatic decontamination (ESD) currently under development
at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO.
This research and development program was started in 1998.
ESD is an electrostatically charged mist
containing a proprietary photosensitizer that is sprayed onto a contaminated
surface, victim or a wound. The
photosensitizer consists of a hydrogen peroxide base (1-2%), a proprietary
additive, and a surfactant. The
photosensitizer is then illuminated with a pulsed ultraviolet (UV) light source
that activates the photosensitizer destroying all biological agents
present. System efficacy against
chemical agents is unknown as no tests have been completed at this time. The photosensitizer mist is harmless and
will not cause damage or injury to humans or the environment. The pulsed UV light wavelength is used for
only 4 to 60 seconds and is not harmful to humans. Eye protection can be provided by regular glasses or by simply
closing your eyes. The system operates
in ambient conditions from temperatures ranging from freezing to 120 F and
provides open-air sterilization.
Testing revealed the following destruction
times:
Photosensitizer + Pulsed UV light
Anthrax spores 75 seconds
E. coli bacteria 75 seconds
Salmonella 75
seconds
Water borne virus simulants 75 seconds
Photosensitizer only - No Pulsed UV
light
Anthrax spores 8 minutes
E. coli bacteria 8 minutes
Salmonella 8
minutes
Water borne virus simulants 8 minutes
These
results are based on using twice the density of spores required by NATO
standards.
The ESD system is comprised of four major
elements:
1.
Proprietary
photosensitizer-hydrogen peroxide solution,
2.
Spray
applicator,
3.
Ultraviolet
light source, and
4.
Water
All
of these elements are commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) items with the exception
of the proprietary photosensitizer. The
shelf life of the photosensitizer is 1 to 3 years depending on the purity of
the hydrogen peroxide used. Application
of the mist shows coverage of 100 m2/10 liters in 9 minutes. I’d like to note that it has not been
developed or evaluated as a room or ductwork decontaminant, but rather as a
surface decontaminant; however, we believe that ESD can be misted into enclosed
spaces or ductwork to effectively neutralize biological agents.
This developmental effort would require some minor
modification of COTS applicators, and testing to ensure proper procedures are
in place to maximize agent neutralization in a building/ductwork
environment. The effort could be
completed in 6-8 months if the appropriate test facilities are made available.
The third
technology is a nanoparticle regime that includes materials with particle sizes
ranging between 1-100 nanometers (1 nanometer = 10-9 meters). Nanoparticles of metal oxides exhibit
extraordinary abilities to react with and thereby destroy highly toxic
substances and chemical warfare agents.
Kansas State University (KSU) and their commercial adjunct firm,
Nanoscale Materials, Incorporated (NMI), have been active since 1995 in
developing metal oxide nanoparticles and defining their applications with
regard to destructive adsorption.
Recently, it was also found that special
formulations of these nanoparticles are active against biological warfare
agents such as spores of Bacillus
globigii, which is a simulant of anthrax.
With respect to
biological agents, nanoparticles have a positive charge that enables them to
attach to negatively charged bacteria cells or spores. Once attached to the bacteria or spore the
nanoparticle penetrates the cell walls of bacteria destroying the nucleus. For thick-coated protein cells of spores,
addition of chlorine as a stabilized free radical to the nanoparticle
formulation enhances their ability to penetrate these cells.
Since August of
this year Marine Corps Systems Command
has aggressively pursued this technology for a wide range of
decontamination applications. This project
is focused on developing novel dry powder decontamination technologies capable
of neutralizing chemical and biological warfare agents. With appropriate funding this technology
could be available for use as a biological decontaminant as soon as calendar
year 2003.
Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) has
developed the fourth technology. This
decontaminant (designated DF-100) is a non-toxic, non-corrosive aqueous foam
with enhanced physical stability for the rapid mitigation and decontamination
of chemical and biological warfare agents and toxic industrial materials. The foam formulation is based on a
surfactant system to solubolize contaminants and increase reaction rates with
nucleophilic reagents and mild oxidizing agents. The formulation includes water-soluble polymers to enhance the physical
stability of the foam. Preliminary test
results demonstrate very effective decontamination of chemical and biological
threat agent simulants on contaminated surfaces and in solution. Testing also indicates that the formulation
may be effective as a general decontaminant on a variety of toxic industrial
materials. This decontamination
technology offers the following benefits: 1) a single decontaminant solution
for both chemical and biological threats 2) rapidly deployable 3) minimal
operational and logistics impacts.
Studies conducted on
the DF-100 decontaminant to date include chemical agent decontamination
efficacy (post-decon contact and off-gas vapor hazards), reaction rates,
detector compatibility, toxicity, materials compatibility and biological
simulant decon efficacy. Biological
simulants tested to date include anthrax and smallpox simulants.
Chemical testing
revealed that DF-100 destroyed 99-100% of G, V and H class agents in 10-60
minutes. Biological testing revealed
that DF-100 was effective in reducing biological simulants to a safe level. Of
particular interest, in a 10E6
challenge (1M spores) using Bacillus globigii (Anthrax Simulants), SNL
Foam achieved a 6 log reduction (reduced to 1 spore or less) within 15 minutes. Other simulants tested included smallpox and E. Coli MS2 with similar results.
Material
characteristics include a pH of 9.8 and a liquid to foam expansion of 15:1.
Currently two
companies are licensed to manufacture and produce DF-100. These companies also manufacture or are
licensed to sell application systems capable of dispensing DF-100. These application systems range in size from
man-portable (back pack system) to truck mounted. Included in these application
systems is the Marine Corps Compressed Air Foam System (CAFSM), a HMMWV mounted
fire fighting system.
Discussion with
industry indicates that manufacturing facilities are capable of producing up to
20,000 gallons per day of DF-100.
Production/delivery capabilities for application systems range from 1000
per month for small systems to 20 per month for large systems.
Decontamination demonstrations at
Dugway Proving Ground and Fort Leonard Wood have shown that DF-100 may be
applied with currently fielded decontamination systems or dual use systems i.e.
firefighting systems, pressure washers.
Preliminary evaluations and studies
conducted on SNL DF-100 under the Joint Service Family of Decontamination
Systems program were designed against tactical operational requirements. SNL DF-100 has not been evaluated for room
or interior decontamination under the JSFDS program to date.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I want to
thank the committee for inviting me to present this information. This is a vitally important issue to the
Marine Corps and to our Homeland Defense.
The Marine Corps and the Joint Chemical-Biological Defense Program
continue to conduct research, development and acquisition of these and other
technologies with the sole intent of providing Marines and other service
members with the very best capability.
I will be happy to address any questions at this time.