Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, United States.
Jacobs Technology Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, United States.
Waste Manag. 2024 Apr 15;178:292-300. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2024.02.006. Epub 2024 Feb 28.
Clean up following the wide-area release of a persistent biological agent has the potential to generate significant waste. Waste containing residual levels of biological contaminants may require off-site shipment under the U.S. Department of Transportation's (US DOT) solid waste regulations for Category A infectious agents, which has packaging and size limitations that do not accommodate large quantities. Treating the waste on-site to inactivate the bio-contaminants could alleviate the need for Category A shipping and open the possibility for categorizing the waste as conventional solid waste with similar shipping requirements as municipal garbage. To collect and package waste for on-site treatment, a semi-permeable nonwoven-based fabric was developed. The fabric was designed to contain residual bio-contaminants while providing sufficient permeability for penetration by a gaseous decontamination agent. The nonwoven fabric was tested in two bench-scale experiments. First, decontamination efficacy and gas permeability were evaluated by placing test coupons inoculated with spores of a Bacillus anthracis surrogate inside the nonwoven material. After chlorine dioxide fumigation, the coupons were analyzed for spore viability and results showed a ≥6 Log reduction on all test materials except glass. Second, filters cut from the nonwoven material were tested in parallel with commercially available cellulose acetate filters having a known pore size (0.45 μm) and results demonstrate that the two materials have similar permeability characteristics. Overall, results suggest that the nonwoven material could be used to package waste at the point of generation and then moved to a nearby staging area where it could be fumigated to inactivate bio-contaminants.
广泛释放持久性生物制剂后进行清理，可能会产生大量废物。含有生物污染物残留水平的废物可能需要根据美国运输部（US DOT）的规定，按照 A 类传染性制剂进行场外运输，这对包装和尺寸有限制，无法容纳大量废物。在现场处理废物以灭活生物污染物，可以减轻对 A 类运输的需求，并有可能将废物归类为常规固体废物，其运输要求与城市垃圾相似。为了收集和包装废物进行现场处理，开发了一种半渗透的无纺基织物。该织物旨在容纳残留的生物污染物，同时为气态去污剂的渗透提供足够的渗透性。非织造织物在两个台式实验中进行了测试。首先，通过将接种有炭疽芽孢杆菌替代品孢子的测试试片放置在无纺材料内部，评估去污效果和气体渗透性。二氧化氯熏蒸后，对试片进行孢子活力分析，结果表明除玻璃外，所有测试材料的减少率均≥6 对数。其次，从非织造材料上切下的过滤器与具有已知孔径（0.45μm）的市售醋酸纤维素过滤器平行测试，结果表明这两种材料具有相似的渗透性特征。总体而言，结果表明，非织造材料可用于在产生废物的地点进行包装，然后将其转移到附近的暂存区，在那里可以对其进行熏蒸以灭活生物污染物。
