Chemical / Biological Defense

CET is a leader in the development of technology for defense against chemical and biological warfare agents for the military and homeland defense.  Examples of solutions to complex problems include:

How to decontaminate chemical and biological warfare agents rapidly while maintaining tactical superiority. Previously decontaminants required a minimum contact time of several hours for biological agents; chemical agents required manual scrubbing.

In collaboration with our physicists and engineers, the Life Sciences Group developed the patent pending Electrostatic Decontamination System (EDS), which combines the power of a superior liquid sterilant (PERIDOX® Microbicide) with the speed of photochemistry to produce the only EPA-registered process that decontaminates anthrax spores on surfaces within minutes. The same hardware in combination with our Chemical Decontamination Solution (CET’s CDS™ Decontamination Soultion) destroys all of the major chemical warfare agents (HD, HT, Sarin, Soman, Tabun and VX) plus a number of additional toxic chemicals (including Ricin) efficiently in a matter of minutes. The EDS can be operated manually or robotically for maximum safety to the user.

How to perform realistic training exercises for a chemical warfare agent event involving human victims. Prior chemical warfare agent simulants were not approved for human use and did not accurately mimic the behavior of the true agent.

CET’s portable TrainSaf® Simulants HD, Sarin, and VX simulants are made of ingredients found in the Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients and generally are regarded as safe (GRAS). Moreover, these simulants have the physical properties and volatility of the true agent so that people playing the role of “victim” in training exercises are safe and those playing the role of emergency responders can use their actual vapor detectors and decontaminants with realism and fidelity.

How to remediate and restore an urban area – with all its material, geographical, political and social complexities – after an attack with biological agent so that it can be re-used. No procedures existed in the past.

CET produced “A Field Guide to the Restoration Process Guidance and Protocols for Large-scale Bio-contaminated Urban Areas”, a step-by-step guide, including operational concepts, for a large-scale restoration effort. Users include planners, managers, implementers and operational support, as well as other participants in the restoration process, such as local, state and federal governments.

How to determine the remaining lifetime for ASZM-TEDA Carbon HVAC filtration medium. Previously there was no way to evaluate the remaining capacity of air filters in highly protected buildings with systems that block the entry of toxic vapors from chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals.

CET developed the portable Threat Block™ analytical instrument, which operates in the field with push-button ease and tells the operator approximately how many months of service remain in the ASZM-TEDA filters.