Incidents involving the release of chemical agents can pose significant risks to public health. In such an event, emergency decontamination of affected casualties may need to be undertaken to reduce injury and possible loss of life. To ensure these methods are effective, human volunteer trials (HVTs) of decontamination protocols, using simulant contaminants, have been conducted. Simulants must ...

de Jonge E, Schultz MJ, Spanjaard L, et al. Effects of selective decontamination of digestive tract on mortality and acquisition of resistant bacteria in intensive care: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2003;362:1011–6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

BACKGROUND The unique resistance of prions to classic methods of decontamination, and evidence that prion diseases can be transmitted iatrogenically by medical devices pose a serious infection control challenge to health-care facilities. In view of the widespread tissue distribution of the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agent in human beings, new practicable decontamination procedures are ur...

The effectiveness of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) (2.5%) or iodine (10%) for decontamination of the operation field (tooth, rubber dam, and gasket [Oraseal]) was compared by using bacterial cultivation. In addition, the final samples were also assessed for bacteria by using polymerase chain reaction. Teeth (n = 63) receiving root canal treatment were polished with pumice, isolated with rubber da...

this study investigated single-step extraction of heavy metals from contaminated sedimentscollected in the port of cádiz. experimental tests of washing with an aqueous solution of a chelating agent wereperformed at selected solid/liquid (s/l) ratios. two chelating agents were chosen: 0.3 m edta(ph 3.8 and 8)and sodium citrate (1 m). the objective of the tests was to investigate extractive decon...

We evaluated four decontamination methods and one nondecontamination procedure in combination with four egg-based media for the primary isolation of Mycobacterium ulcerans from tissue specimens. With mycobacterial recovery and contamination rates of 75.6 and 2.4%, respectively, the combination of the oxalic acid decontamination method with Lowenstein-Jensen medium supplemented with glycerol yie...

OBJECTIVE To determine the comparative efficacy of selective decontamination of the digestive tract in critically ill surgical and medical patients, and in selected subgroups of surgical patients with pancreatitis, major burn injury, and those undergoing major elective surgery and transplantation. DATA SOURCES The MEDLINE database was searched from January 1966 to December 1996 using the term...

Studies have been conducted to determine the efficacy of various decontamination technologies against virulent B. anthracis and surrogate spores within small, bench-scale chambers. This study assessed an approach for evaluating room-scale (~2,700 ft3) decontamination efficacy of vaporous hydrogen peroxide fumigation against B. anthracis Ames and B. subtilis spores deposited onto porous and non-...

Many irrigation ponds in Fukushima Prefecture were decontaminated due to the contamination of radiocesium released from Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. To evaluate impact decontamination on 137Cs dynamics an urban pond Koriyama City, Prefecture, Japan, temporal changes concentrations bottom sediments and water investigated before after bottom-sediment removal. Post-decontamination, inventories dec...