Decontamination of Chemical Warfare Agents

Chemical warfare agents (CWA) pose inevitable threat, both to soldiers and civilians. Risk on contact with these deadly agents can be avoided by neutralisation of their toxic effects. A suitable media with essential physico-chemical properties is required for this purpose. Considerable efforts have been made to develop several decontamination media suitable for neutralisation of highly toxic CWAs. This paper reviews history and details of recent technological advancements in the development of versatile, broad spectrum decontamination formulations against CWAs, as also nanosized metal oxides as CWA decontaminants.