Browse Topic: Biohazards
U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) researchers are developing a way to scan for chemical biological agent on surfaces on the fly. Literally on the fly as it consists of an AI-enabled spectrometer mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) sending back vital data in real time. It is called Hyperspectral Threat Anomaly Detection, or HyperThreAD for short.
Remember that party where you were swinging glow sticks above your head or wearing them as necklaces? Fun times, right? Science times, too. Turns out those fun party favors are now being used by a University of Houston researcher to identify emerging biothreats for the United States Navy.
Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD Developing single photon UV detection for compact chemical and biological sensors. This report summarizes the main lines of effort for the Electro-Optics Materials Research (EOMR) program including its goals and major accomplishments, focusing on the past 5 years. This EOMR program was an effort within 601102A.31B.1 titled “Optoelectronic and Integrated Photonic Materials and Device Research” for FY16-FY19 and 611102A.AA8.1 titled “Photonic Materials and Device Research” for FY20-FY21. The focus of this EOMR for most of the program was to develop novel semiconductor optoelectronic devices to reduce the size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) of chemical and biological detection and identification systems. Specifically, the program addressed the need for high sensitivity photodetectors in the near-UV (NUV) spectrum between 300 and 350 nm for biological agent detection using light-induced fluorescence techniques employed by the Tactical Biological (TAC-BIO) detector, developed by the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center, as well as in the deep UV spectrum (220-240 nm) important for standoff chemical detection based upon fluorescence-free Raman spectroscopy. Late in the program, this effort pivoted to address assured communications challenges relevant to the Army modernization priority for future networks through examining how to improve the efficiency of solar-blind UV LEDs.
Exposure to toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and pathogens has been acknowledged to pose a significant risk to mission capability and warfighter health. Due to their salient fieldability, microfluidics- and nanofluidics-based impedance sensors are increasingly finding favor in the biodetection and biodefense arena. However, their efficient modeling and design continues to be a challenge.
Any space, enclosed or open, can be vulnerable to the dispersal of harmful airborne biological agents. Silent and near-invisible, these bioagents can sicken or kill living things before steps can be taken to mitigate their effects. Venues where crowds congregate are prime targets for biowarfare strikes engineered by terrorists but expanses of fields or forests could be victimized by an aerial bioattack.
A wearable gas sensor was developed that is an improvement on existing wearable sensors because it uses a self-heating mechanism that enhances sensitivity. It allows for quick recovery and reuse of the device. Other devices of this type require an external heater. In addition, other wearable sensors require an expensive and time-consuming lithography process under cleanroom conditions.
The Portable EnGineered Analytic Sensor with aUtomated Sampling (PEGASUS) is a miniaturized waveguide-based optical sensor that can detect toxins, bacterial signatures, viral signatures, biothreats, white powders, and more from samples such as blood, water, food, and animal samples.
The use of alternative fuels, especially oxygenated fuels in automobile engines, has been increasing owing to the stringent global fuel economy and emission regulations. As a result, it is concerned that the emissions of alcohols and aldehydes have increased significantly. Aldehydes, formaldehyde (HCHO) in particular, are non-criteria pollutants that are acutely toxic and/or carcinogenic. Several reports have associated HCHO with potential lung and airway cancers. Therefore, emission regulations for these compounds have already been implemented in several areas worldwide. The conventional measurement (impinger, etc.) methods for HCHO possess advantages and disadvantages. HCHO can be measured with high sensitivity if measured in a batch. However, in real-time measurements, low concentration measurements are challenging. To overcome this challenge, a real-time HCHO analyzer for low concentration measurement of 0.1 ppm resolution in real time of 10Hz was developed in this study based on laser spectroscopic principles. The results in this study highlight the fundamental performance of the method and application to real automobile exhaust gas measurements.
Automotive engines produce pollutant species which has the potential to damage human health as well as the environment. The toxicity potential of these species depends on the concentration, route, and exposure time. Toxicity studies are required in the current scenario due to increased pollution levels by vehicles used for transportation. This study is a review focused on the toxicity analysis of particulate, elemental (particle associated as soot), and organic carbon (organic fraction, PAHs) emission from the internal combustion engine with conventional and alternative fuels like biodiesel and alcohol. The study is focused on the formation, characterization, and quantification of particulate matter, elemental and organic carbon, and their effect on human health. The other part of the study is focused on mutagenicity (mutation in DNA) and cytotoxicity (cell toxicity) of the particulate emitted from the engines. Mutagenicity analysis determines the carcinogenic nature of a chemical species. The present study investigates the reasons for the formation of such pollutant, their morphology, and role in the toxicity of ambient air. Additionally, the paper provides new insight into the investigation of particulate matter’s nature and its effect on human health and the environment.
As patient sensitivities to materials rise and regulatory scrutiny increases, the medical design community is searching for alloy alternatives to common stainless steels or cobalt chrome molybdenum for new medical devices. According to the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, an estimated 12–15 percent of the population in the United States is sensitive to nickel. It is difficult to accurately predict patient susceptibility to metal hypersensitivities, even in those with an established metal-allergy history pre-implant. Additionally, under new EU Medical Devices Regulation (EU MDR, 2017/745), medical devices that contain >0.01 percent cobalt are required to indicate on the device or a warning label to the presence of cobalt as a potential CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic, reproductive toxin) substance.
This work focused on developing novel nano-sized thermal sensors based on a multifunctional core/shell and nano-channel design that can be used to measure temperature and retaining thermal history of the biological agents experienced during the testing of agent-defeat weapons.
Multifunctional composites have been investigated for destruction of bio-agents. These materials’ unique properties at the nano scale, including their abrasive character and high surface area leading to very close contact with cells, and their unusual surface morphology leading to high surface reactivity, make them promising biocides. Nanoparticles can also be prepared in a variety of forms such as powders, slurries, pellets, and membranes, making them more convenient and widely applicable for bio-agent destruction. Additionally, nanoparticles can generally be easily stored, which increases their flexibility.
A method of (1) sealing a sample of material acquired in a possibly biologically contaminated (“dirty”) environment into a hermetic container, (2) sterilizing the outer surface of the container, then (3) delivering the sealed container to a clean environment has been proposed. This method incorporates the method reported in “Separation and Sealing of a Sample Container Using Brazing” (NPO-41024), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 31, No. 8 (August 2007), page 42. Like the previously reported method, the method now proposed was originally intended to be used to return samples from Mars to Earth, but could also be used on Earth to transport material samples acquired in environments that contain biological hazards and/or, in some cases, chemical hazards.
A prototype helmet audio system has been developed to improve voice communication for the wearer in a noisy environment. The system was originally intended to be used in a space suit, wherein noise generated by airflow of the spacesuit life-support system can make it difficult for remote listeners to understand the astronaut's speech and can interfere with the astronaut's attempt to issue vocal commands to a voice-controlled robot. The system could be adapted to terrestrial use in helmets of protective suits that are typically worn in noisy settings: examples include biohazard, fire, rescue, and diving suits.
These coatings show promise, but further development is needed. Conversion coatings that comprise mixtures of molybdates and several additives have been subjected to a variety of tests to evaluate their effectiveness in protecting aluminum and alloys of aluminum against corrosion. Molybdate conversion coatings are under consideration as replacements for chromate conversion coatings, which have been used for more than 70 years. The chromate coatings are highly effective in protecting aluminum and its alloys against corrosion but are also toxic and carcinogenic. Hexavalent molybdenum and, hence, molybdates containing hexavalent molybdenum, have received attention recently as replacements for chromates because molybdates mimic chromates in a variety of applications but exhibit significantly lower toxicity.
Two recently invented families of conversion- coating processes have been found to be effective in reducing or preventing corrosion of aluminum alloys. These processes offer less-toxic alternatives to prior conversion-coating processes that are highly effective but have fallen out of favor because they generate chromate wastes, which are toxic and carcinogenic. Specimens subjected to these processes were found to perform well in standard salt-fog corrosion tests.
An instrumentation system that would include an ultraviolet (UV) laser or light-emitting diode, an infrared (IR) laser, and the equivalent of an IR Raman spectrometer has been proposed to enable noncontact identification of hazardous biological agents and chemicals. In prior research, IR Raman scattering had shown promise as a means of such identification, except that the Raman-scattered light was often found to be too weak to be detected or to enable unambiguous identification in practical applications. The proposed system (see Figure 1) would utilize UV illumination as part of a two-level optical-pumping scheme to intensify the Raman signal sufficiently to enable positive identification.
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