LUNA INNOVATIONS INCORPORATED — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: CBD161-003

Description

The potential danger of chemical-warfare attacks has led to an increased need for developing novel decontamination methods. The sensitivity of human skin to different chemical warfare agents (CWAs) varies considerably. As a result, the decontamination for human requires an entirely different approach from other material decontamination, especially for the wound area on the skin where could absorb CWAs systematically in a very short time. The highest decontamination efficient product Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion (RSDL) has been FDA proved use for the small area intact skin only. The main neutralization chemical in the RSDL is toxic to the human and also the other lotion vehicle is cross-reactive to other commonly used powder decontamination product. None of the methods has developed to help efficiently remove the CWAs so far, but also has no toxic effect to the skin and human. Luna proposes to develop an easy dry spray formulation (EZSpray) for dermal decontamination of CWAs. The formulation is a biocompatible, but it can high efficiently neutralize a broad spectrum of CWAs. It will overcome the obstacle of present technology with highly stable active ingredients and have negligible corrosive/toxic properties under different climatic conditions and easy to handle.