Ramona Adams
The U.S. Navy and Virginia-based small business First Line Technology have signed an exclusive license agreement that authorizes the company to manufacture a Navy-patented decontamination technology for warfighters and first responders.
The Navy said Friday researchers from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division developed and patented the Dahlgren Decon decontamination technology in efforts to protect warfighters against chemical, biological and radiological threats.
NSWCDD and First Line Technology jointly developed a transition plan to equip first responders with Dahlgren Decon, the Navy added.
“This technology transfer not only provides the decontamination product to the warfighter off-the-shelf; it will also be incorporated into products to support first responders and the general public,” said Lorraine Harting, NSWCDD office of research and technology applications manager.
Harting added the technology transfer supports President Barack Obama’s presidential memorandum for the transfer and commercialization of federal research and technology to support industry.
The Navy noted Dahlgren Decon’s formulation works to neutralize a range of substances such as toxic industrial chemicals, chemical warfare and biological agents and could have potential applications as a commercial antimicrobial solution or pesticide.
Dahlgren Decon is also designed to address issues with current U.S. military decontamination solutions such as High Test Hypochlorite‘s highly corrosive properties and Decon Formulation 200‘s reaction times of up to 30 minutes, the service branch said.
Chris Hodge, NSWCDD scientist and Dahlgren Decon inventor, said the decontamination formula only requires water for activation and works to neutralize targets within minutes.
