Company Developing Foam To Fight Anthrax

Modec Inc. Makes Decontaminant Formula For Military, First-Response Teams

POSTED: 9:20 p.m. MDT October 11, 2001

UPDATED: 9:34 p.m. MDT October 11, 2001

Ever since the first cases of anthrax were reported, Americans have been searching for ways to protect themselves and their families from possible chemical or biological agents. In a couple of months, a Denver company may just have that protection.

anthrax -- foam decontaminant

Modec Inc. is manufacturing a foam that can decontaminate biological or chemical weapons of mass destruction including anthrax.

The foam has been tested and approved for spraying on equipment, into buildings and even on runways. Soon, the foam could even be approved for use on your skin, 7NEWS reporter Paula Haddock said.

"Very simply, this can mitigate (or) neutralize a chemical warfare agent as well as bacterial warfare agent, viruses and anthrax," Modec Inc. 's president Brian Kalamanka said.

The Denver-based company has a contract with the federal government to manufacture MDF, or Modec Decon Formula, primarily for the military and civilian emergency response teams.


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"The formulation can be delivered as a vapor, fog, a gel, a foam, or a liquid," Kalamanka said.

Its purpose is rapid decontamination, neutralizing deadly agents within one minute. It can be used on disaster sites even before a chemical or biological agent is identified or before an evacuation..

That's because MDF is a cocktail of non-toxic, non-corrosive, environmentally friendly substances. Researchers used common household products like toothpaste and hair conditioner.

The foam neutralizes chemical agents in much the same way a detergent lifts away an oily spot from a stained shirt. Its surfactants (like those in hair conditioner) and mild oxidizing substances (like those in toothpaste) begin to chemically digest the chemical agent, seeking out the phosphate or sulfide bonds holding the molecules together and chopping the molecules into non-toxic pieces, researchers at Sandia National Laboratory said.

"They're looking for a material that could kill the worst things on the planet, including anthrax, and they want it to be as safe as baby shampoo," Kalamanka said.

It's why Modec wants to sell the formula to the general public.

"If there was a large scale incident, it's going to take a lot. The first responders are going to have difficulty responding to a large number of people, so if they have an individual kit, people can attend to themselves," Kalamanka said.

So you could be buying bottles of the foam or packets of lotion by January if Modec gets federal approval for use on the skin.

The foam could be produced for about 15 cents a pound, foam co-developer Maher Tadros of Sandia National Laboratory said.

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