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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