WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- New technologies designed to protect the public against biological and chemical weapons are being developed continuously but much more remains to be done, researchers reported Thursday.
With a possible war on the horizon and the 2001 anthrax attacks still unsolved, researchers described in the Feb. 28 issue of the journal Science what is in use already to detect and protect the nation from future attacks and a glimpse of what is to come. From scrubbing with household bleach to detection of agents with nuclear technology, the methods are promising but experts said, gaps remain in the system.
"We're much better prepared today," said Richard Colton, researcher at the Naval Research Laboratory and co-author of the article. "But we don't have the resources to make (sensing and other counterattack technology) available everywhere and all the time."
Detecting biological and chemical agents seems to receive most of the attention, Colton said. A system called NQR, for nuclear quadruple resonance, is being evaluated in a few airports and other places. It searches for explosives in luggage, bulk mail and vehicles. Meanwhile researchers also are developing a system called "smart dust," which uses nanotechnology to detect explosives and warfare agents.
Other new technology includes "smart buildings" with filtering systems that could prevent the spread of a localized biological or chemical attack. Colton said buildings easily could be retrofitted with the filtration system.
Once bio or chemical agents are detected, buildings and equipment must be decontaminated. In the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway, Colton and co-author John Russell said cleanup was fast and the subway was reopened quickly.
However, Sarin dissipates relatively rapidly, said Brian Houghton, director of research at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism. Other agents disperse more slowly, he said, and anthrax is particularly stubborn. For example, some of the buildings where anthrax was detected in 2001 remain closed.
Part of the decontamination issue is that there are no standards for "how clean is clean enough," Colton said.
Naturally, everyone would prefer to have zero spores or molecules of harmful agents, but it takes large numbers of these to cause illness, Colton remarked.
Much of the cleaning is conducted in a low-tech way: with cleanup crews scrubbing surfaces with bleach, Colton and Russell wrote. A new non-toxic decontaminating foam has been developed and is being sold to first responders. Gases such as chlorine dioxide and ozone also can be used to clean up ventilation systems and other confined spaces.
All these materials have limitations, however. The gases are harsh, Colton and Russell explained.
"Foam is restricted to where you can spray it," Houghton said, adding that gases and bleach cannot reach every space or every surface.
Although decontamination is important, a survey of first responders revealed their first concern is development of an on-scene, real-time detector, Houghton said. Although new, experimental technology can detect agents within 20 to 30 minutes of arrival, "that is not enough," he noted.
"We're talking about two to three years rather than two to three months," Houghton said, before the real-time sensors are available. Even then, Houghton said, the country still might not be fully prepared for a biological or chemical attack.
"Are we prepared to meet an incidence of terrorism?" Houghton asked. "No. I don't think we ever can be. Terrorists are masters at risk and vulnerability assessments." The problem, he said, is where the nation is vulnerable, that is where terrorists probably will attack.
Other experts were not so optimistic about current readiness.
"We're woefully unprepared," said Craig Thompson, director of communications at the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, Arlington, Va. "On a scale of 1 to 10, we're at 2."
The problem is not just on the technology end, Thompson explained. A large part of the country's lack of readiness is due to a lack of funds for first responders and hospital emergency centers. Yet the solution is relatively simple, he said: "If we prepare for natural disasters and diseases as well as terrorists, we will be much better prepared."
To make his point, Thompson cited the case of a flu epidemic a few years ago that closed emergency rooms because they did not have enough beds for the sick.
"It comes down to preparing at various city and county levels with help from the federal government," Thompson said, adding that many small cities and towns do not have the funds to train and provide masks and protective gear for its first responders.
"First responders need to be our heroes, not our martyrs," he added.
