The Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Aberdeen,
Md., has developed a new test method that will allow military and
medical communities to better assess the performance of decontaminants.
The testing standard was developed by Jose-Luis Sagripanti, senior
biochemistry research advisor at ECBC. The test has been adopted
as the new international standard by the American Society for Testing
and Materials.
The three-step method has been used in the investigation of anthrax
mail attacks in the United States, as well as in military operations
in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Defense Department continues to search for more effective testing
methods for decontaminants, which are used to eliminate potentially
deadly agents from military equipment returning from the battlefield,
such as Humvee trucks, protective suits and gas masks.
The testing technology will expand to civilian use, officials said.
“The three-step method has applications for an important
commercial segment that needs testing and evaluation of decontaminant,
sporicidal and sterilant agents for defense, food processing and
medical applications, as well as for bactericidal soaps, lotions,
cleaners, paints and many other products for household and commercial
use that can involve microbicidal activity,” said Sagripanti.
Sagripanti explained the three-step test has several advantages
over other methods. Its efficacy is measured as a number in contrast
to growth-no growth; results are read after overnight incubation,
instead of a 30-day wait; used carrier surfaces are inexpensive
enough to be disposable; the test can also compare the sensitivity
of different microbes or the effect of different surfaces or materials.
Currently the Environmental Protection Agency is conducting an
extensive validation of the three-step method. In the future, ECBC
and the Defense Department would like to pursue this testing method
as an international standard to assist foreign vendors, an ECBC
spokesman said. Additional information can be obtained at http://edgewood.sbccom.army.mil/
or (410) 436-3610.