NATO SPS Program
NATO SPS Program Project G5713
February 2021 - July 2024
NATO Country Project Director (NPD) Professor Carlos Afonso (FFUL)
Partner Country Project Director (PPD) Professor Jan Deska (Aalto)
The development of new technologies in organic synthetic chemistry in the last century lead to more advanced compounds applied to biotechnology, smart materials and medicine that improved the life care of civilians all around the world. However, this improvement on synthetic methodologies, contributed to the development of new and more deadly chemicals, used to cause serious injuries not only into soldiers but also to civilians. Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear (CBRN) agents can be used as weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and therefore the protection of populations against CBRN threats and hazards places a high priority on NATO’s defence strategy. When a CBRN incident occurs the efficiency of the first response of national authorities is crucial to minimize the number of casualties. After the detection and identification, the CNBR agent that have been exposed, it is essential to decontaminate not only the personnel, but also the used equipment and all the area affected. The main decontaminate strategies are based on bleach, that not only is corrosive to certain materials but also is toxic to humans and to the environment. Therefore, it is necessary the establishment of CNBR agent decontamination methodologies that are less to humans and more benign to the environment. Among the CNBR agents, this project focusses on the development of a decontamination and treatment methodology for chemical warfare agents (CWA).