Homepage >
Chem-Bio Defense > Decontamination Products
Decontamination Products
Guild Associates is a leader in the design and manufacture of immediate
decontamination products. Guild Associates developed the A200 Sorbent material in
conjunction with the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center in the
early 2000's. A200 was developed to replace the expensive XE555
Decontamination Powder. Over two million pounds of A200 has been
produced by Guild Associates in support of the M100 and M295
decontamination kits.
A200 material is a mixture of silica-alumina particles and activated carbon. During the
manufacturing process, conditions are carefully controlled to produce
the optimal particle size and pore structure. The sorbent functions by
physically adsorbing the chemical agent into the pores of the material,
where it is held by strong molecular bonds. The chemical agent retained
in the pores is rendered inert, and thus the resulting powder is not
hazardous material.
| 
Photomicrograph of A200 Sorbent Particle
|
| Guild Associates supplies both the sorbent powder and the M100 Equipment
Decontamination Kit to the Department of Defense. The M100 consists of
two 500g pouches of A200 Sorbent, an application mitt, and the plastic
container. During Immediate Decontamination, a soldier clad in MOPP
gear can effectively treat 12.5 square meters of surface area. This
will remove the surface contamination, thus containing the spread of the
agent. The equipment can be passed into Thorough Decontamination for
further processing. | 
M100 Exploded View |
The Guild BioSciences division is currently working towards development
of an enzyme-based decontamination material. Through research funded by
DTRA and DARPA, Guild has developed a variant of the Organophosphorus
Hydrolase (OPH) enzyme that, as of the current research, has been
confirmed to be a 25x improvement as compared to the wild-type enzyme in
degrading the nerve agent VX. For more information on this enzyme, click here.
|
| Guild Associates is also a leader in the general knowledge of
decontamination testing, application and processes. Guild's scientists
have authored and co-authored numerous scientific papers and made
presentations at key industry conventions and trade shows, and are frequently consulted opinions on test methodology and sample preparation by Department of Defense divisions. Below is a
partial list of the recent publications in the field of decontamination. |
| 2012 | Bandosz, T.J. ; Laskoski, M.; Mahle,J.; Mogilevsky,G.; Peterson, G.W.; Rossin, J.A. and Wagner, G.W.; “Reactions of VX, GD, and HD with Zr(OH)4: Near Instantaneous Decontamination of VX.” J. Phys. Chem. C. 116 (2012) 11606. Click Here to View Abstract
|
| 2005 | Brown, R.S.; Rossin, J.A.; Kotary, J.F.; Fitzgerald, G.; Gerhart, K.G.; Mearns, H.A.; Newton, R.A.; Keller, J.H.; Mawhinney, D.B. and Yates, J.Y.; Decontamination of Chemical Warfare Agents using a Reactive Sorbent. U.S. Patent 6,852,903 (2005). Click Here to View Abstract
|