Decontamination general principles

It was already shown that this is possible and the understanding of the behavior of such technical grade components benefits from the great knowledge of the fundamental general principles of the phase behavior in amphiphilic systems obtained in numerous studies. Hence, for the future new decontaminants media as a hard surface cleaner based on microemulsion formulation can be expected for both military decontamination forces and civilian first responders. 

The details of sterilization by chemical and physical agents are well covered in specialized textbooks (45, 52, 55, 352) as well as in textbooks of basic and applied microbiology. It is the purpose of this chapter to provide practical recommendations for decontamination and sterilization procedures as they would be practiced in the biomedical research laboratory. First, however, we outline briefly some general principles and define some commonly used terms. 

Treatment follows decontamination of the patient, after donning protective gear. The various agents may vary in their ability to generate local and systemic pathology however, the general treatment principles remain the same for all vesicants except for the availability of British Antilewisite (BAL) for dichloroarsine exposure. 

Although the above discussed preventive measures can help to reduce the occurrence of mycotoxins in the human food chain, exclusion of toxinogenic microflora is technically impossible and in many cases it is necessary to detoxify and decontaminate large amounts of crop or feed in order to protect the health of consumers or Hvestock, and to prevent economic losses. In practice, detoxification or decontamination procedures include degradation of mycotoxins to inactive products, prevention of new toxic products formation and maintaining the nutritional value of the material. Generally, there are three possible solutions based on physical, chemical or biological principles. 

Triage for chemical casualties follows similar principles as stated by general MIMMS guidance and should initially take place at the scene of the incident in order that the most serious casualties are decontaminated first so that clinical management can be initiated. 

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