Research
Biological Warfare
The Decontamination of Anthrax and Other Biological Agents
Testimony
of Lynn R. Goldman, MD, MPH
Professor, Environmental Health Sciences
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore,
MD
Thursday, November 8, 2001
2318 Rayburn House Office Building
Part
2
Assuring
that decontamination is successful
The
knowledge about decontamination of infectious agents has
been developed in numerous areas: drinking water; medical
facilities and medical devices; laboratories; food safety;
and animal care. The Environmental Protection Agency and
the Food and Drug Administration share responsibility for
their regulation. The lead agency is determined by the intended
use of the product. I will not go into the details of this
but suffice to say that the FDA's primary roles are in medical
device sterilization and the EPA is concerned with drinking
water and industrial uses. It is fair to say that those
agencies review products that are brought to them for approval,
and do not do much research and development into new alternatives
for decontamination. In other words, there are not proactive
efforts to identify new methods to do pathogen decontamination.
(Such activities may occur in other government agencies,
however.) Generally, the private sector will fulfill market
needs. However, in the case of bioterrorism, research is
needed in areas where there are no clear market needs. |
|
Anthrax
and other potential weapons of bioterrorism can be used in facilities
where, under normal circumstances, there is no market for products.
Until last October, there was no market for decontamination of
the mail, mail transport equipment, mail sorting equipment and
facilities, or office buildings where contaminated mail was received.
Yet, as the current situation demonstrates very well, the need
for disinfection is immediate.
In
thinking about alternatives for disinfection it is important to
understand the nature of the organism. Anthrax form spores when
their cells are exposed to oxygen. Anthrax spores are highly resistant
to cold, heat, chemical disinfectants, and long dry periods. Very
little is known about their persistence in buildings but in my
judgment they are likely to persist for a long time. Anthrax spores
resist to many treatments because they are, in essence, hibernating.
Because they are not growing and dividing they are not affected
(as spores) by many antimicrobials that interfere with metabolic
processes.
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