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.

Delayed neurotoxicity of sarin in mice after repeated inhalation exposure has been studied. Female mice exposed to atmospheric sarin (5 mg m-3 for 20 min) daily for 10 days developed muscular weakness of the limbs and slight ataxia on the 14th day after the start of the exposure. These changes were accompanied by significant inhibition of neurotoxic esterase (NTE) activity in the brain, spinal cord and platelets. Histopathology of the spinal cord of exposed animals showed focal axonal degeneration. These changes were comparatively less than in animals treated with the neurotoxic organophosphate, mipafox. Results from this study indicate that sarin may induce delayed neurotoxic effects in mice following repeated inhalation exposure.

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The residual repellency of N,N-diethylphenylacetamide (DEPA) was studied against American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.); German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.); and brownbanded cockroach, Supella longipalpa (F.) at various concentrations. DEPA exhibited residual repellency for 4, 3, and 2 wk against American, German, and brownbanded cockroach, respectively, at a concentration of 0.5 mg/cm2.

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