As workers battle the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and officials attempt to decontaminate a clam boat that dredged up old munitions containing mustard gas, a Texas Tech University researcher said his product fibretect^® can handle both dirty jobs.

Seshadri Ramkumar, an associate professor of nonwoven technologies, said the Texas Tech-created nonwoven cotton carbon absorbent wipe can clean up crude oil and adsorb toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon vapours reportedly sickening oil spill clean-up crew members.

Also, fibretect^® has been tested to successfully remediate mustard vapours such as those found from dumped munitions discovered this week by the crew members aboard the clamming boat off the coast of Long Island.

“Last week, fibretect^® was approved for use as a sorbent by the U S Environmental Protection Agency,” Ramkumar said. “It definitely has applications for cleaning up the oil spill or this clam boat. Our wipe material is unique from any others in that it easily absorbs liquids, and it has vapour-holding capacity. No product to my knowledge has the capacity to do both.”

A recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration detected low levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Ramkumar said. Also, such compounds were found at a depth of 400 metres, showing they have not evaporated.

fibretect^® already has proven that it can also adsorb toxic fumes associated with chemical remediation, he said. Evaluation by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that it can retain offgassing mustard vapours efficiently and does not shed loose particles.

Originally developed to protect the US military from chemical and biological warfare agents, fibretect^® contains a fibrous activated carbon center that is sandwiched between layers.

The top and bottom layers, made from raw cotton, can absorb oil while the center layer holds volatile compounds such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or blistering agents such as mustard vapours or other toxic chemicals.

Contact: Seshadri Ramkumar, associate professor of nonwoven technologies, The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, (806) 885-4567, or s.ramkumar@ttu.edu; Amit Kapoor, president, First Line Technology, (703) 995-7510 or akapoor@firstlinetech.com.