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Suds May Be Antidote for Chemical and Bio-Weapons A sudsy foam made from common ingredients by scientists at Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico may provide an antidote to many chemical and biological toxins. Start Date: 3/16/99 According to a March 16, 1999 report from the Lycos Environmental News Service (http://ens.lycos.com/), a sudsy foam created by scientists at Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico may work as an antidote to a wide variety of chemical and biological toxins. In tests at Sandia, the foam was shown to neutralize or destroy simulants of some of the most worrisome chemical warfare agents, including VX, mustard gas and soman. It also was almost 100% effective against a simulant of anthrax, one of the deadliest and hardiest biological toxins known. International law prevents Sandia personnel from handling actual chemical and bio-weapons agents, but the foam has been tested on real VX, mustard gas and soman at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where it reportedly produced very positive results. The foam is made of relatively commonplace materials and, according to co-developer Maher Tadros of Sandia, it is very cheap -- about 15 cents per pound. It can be dispensed from a standard aerosol container. Sandia has filed for a patent on the substance, tentatively called Decon Foam 100. The key is to apply it immediately upon exposure. "Whatever you do, it's best to act very quickly," Tadros says. "This foam can start neutralizing an agent or combinations of agents right away, even before you know what you're dealing with." Sandia has discussed deploying the foam with various military organizations, police departments, subway systems, national laboratories, and even international airports. Excelsior, Michael Lindemann's new novel (written under the pen name Michael Paul), depicts a wholly plausible near future in which human cloning is both widespread and widely abused; terrorists have access to target-specific biological weapons; recreational space travel is commonplace; and mounting pressures of global climate change, environmental decline, population growth and civil unrest inspire radical new approaches to urban security. Built by Frontier on a Macintosh on 6/17/00; 12:00:47 PM. Web Comments - Produced by Larry Lowe Served 1426 times since 3/16/99.