the formulation of the present invention comprises , in its most general sense , an oxidant or mixture of oxidants and one or more halide salt ( s ) in a water - based solution , preferably in a neutral ph carbonate - type buffered water solution , to generate reactive species in which a synergistic effect can be observed by enhanced rates of chemical and / or biological degradation . oxidants suitable for use in the present invention must be capable of reacting with halide ( s ) to create reactive species , and include peroxygen and peracid compounds such as monopersulfate ( a compound derived from caro &# 39 ; s acid ( h 2 so 5 ) and sold commercially in the form of a triple salt as oxone ® ( 2khso 5 . khso 4 . k 2 so 4 )), or alkali metal salts of persulfuric acid , perborate , peracetate , percarbonate , and / or hydrogen peroxide . more preferably , the oxidant is a monopersulfate compound selected from the group consisting of alkali metal salt forms of peroxymonosulfuric acid alone or in combination with the alkali metal salts of sulfuric or persulfuric acid . without limiting the foregoing , dioxirane compounds , which are powerful oxidants that can be generated in situ by the addition of select ketones to a carbonate - type buffered aqueous matrix in the presence of a monopersulfate compound , are a preferred oxidant for use in the present invention . the efficiency of dioxirane oxidative chemistry on numerous substrates is well known , but of particular importance is dioxirane &# 39 ; s ability to transform a chloride ion into hypochlorite . suitable metal ( alkali , alkaline earth , or transition ) halide salts for use in the present invention include chloride , bromide , iodide and / or salt sources such as seawater and brine solutions . the unique salt source of seawater provides halide ion concentrations that remain fairly constant relative to one another throughout oceans of the world in a neutral ph range . the chloride ion is the most abundant at a concentration of 0 . 5 m ( 19 g / kg ), followed by other anions ( in decreasing order ) of sulfate , bicarbonate , bromide , and silicate , all of which can be utilized without any adverse environmental effects or substantial impact on the effectiveness of the composition of the present invention . it should be noted , however , that extremely high organic or excessive microbial levels within a seawater source would consume a significant level of oxidant of the formulation of the present invention , and would therefore hinder the effectiveness thereof . examples of buffers that can be utilized to bring the formulation within a neutral ph range include alkali metal salt forms of carbonate and bicarbonate , or phosphate . preferably , the solution of the present invention is combined with a buffer to result in a formulation with a ph between 4 and 10 , and most preferably ph 6 to 8 . 5 . acetonitrile , propylene carbonate , propylene glycol , polypropylene glycol and / or tert - butanol are preferred co - solvents to facilitate solvation of the reagents , and surfactants tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate ( tbahs ), triton - x , and / or cetyltrimethylammonium ( ctma ) chloride are preferred to facilitate wetting properties of the formulation . the following formula serves as a representative schematic of an enhanced oxidant - halide system of a preferred embodiment of the present invention whereby a halide salt ( x − ) is added to a neutrally buffered aqueous sodium bicarbonate ( nahco 3 ) system containing oxidant ( ox ) to generate the reactive species ( y 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ). when the formulation of the disclosed invention comprises a chloride halide salt and a suitable buffer , active chlorine species are generated in situ , including but not limited to hypochlorite and / or hypochlorous acid , within neutral ph conditions , effectively enhancing reactivity towards toxic agents . to begin preparation of a preferred embodiment of the active chlorine species decontaminant of the present invention , a solution of about 0 . 05 - 20 % w / v bicarbonate - type buffer , dissolved in water , is prepared to which 0 . 1 - 40 % w / v monopersulfate oxidant is added . upon initial mixing of components some foaming may occur due to off gassing . after mixing 1 - 20 minutes , 0 . 1 - 40 % w / v of chloride , preferably sodium chloride , is added to the mixture . alternatively , if seawater is utilized as the source of halide salts , monopersulfate can be added directly to the source with or without buffer present . when desired , surfactants and / or co - solvents may be added to the solution at concentrations of about 0 . 01 - 15 % w / v and 10 - 80 % w / v , respectively . more preferably , the solution comprises 0 . 5 - 10 % w / v bicarbonate - type buffer , dissolved in water , to which 1 - 20 % w / v monopersulfate oxidant is added and , after complete mixing , 1 - 20 % w / v chloride salt is added to generate the active chlorine reactive species of a preferred embodiment of the present invention . surfactants and / or co - solvents may be added to the composition in concentrations of about 0 . 01 - 5 % w / v and 10 - 80 % w / v , respectively . the resulting mixture is fairly stable for conducting on - site application within at least 7 hours of preparation for the destruction of chemical and / or biological contaminants . application can be by methods such as spraying or soaking to achieve contact with contaminated surfaces , followed by a recommended water rinse after decontamination is complete on the treated areas . examples of types of equipment that can be used for large area decontamination include that similar to basic fire fighting equipment , or the u . s . army abc - m12a1 skid - mounted decontamination apparatus , which is capable of supporting foam , aqueous or deicing - like solutions ; and the m17 transportable decontaminating system that can draw water from a nearby source to dispense a spray to equipment and vehicles . the following formula serves as a representation of an in situ generation of dimethyidioxirane ( dmdo ) with the presence of halide salt pursuant to the teachings of the present invention , whereby the dmdo is generated from acetone ( ch 3 coch 3 ) and monopersulfate ( khso 5 ) in a bicarbonate ( nahco 3 ) buffered aqueous solution , and the halide salt ( x − ) is added to form the reactive species ( y 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ) of the present invention . the presence of halides within the decontaminating formulation of the present invention enables a synergistic effect towards degradation rates of a suite of organophosphorous - containing compounds with functionalities such as those found in chemical warfare agents of hd , vx , gd ( soman ), and gb ( sarin ) as well as degradation rates of biologicals . the following specific examples are intended to illustrate the effectiveness of the invention . as shown in the table below , reactivity towards the degradation of paraoxon , an organophosphorus pesticide and g - agent simulant , was observed when exposed to a neutral monopersulfate - chloride solution of the present invention , as well as controls chloride alone and monopersulfate alone . the tests were conducted over a period of three hours , using 8 . 7 umol paraoxon , at 20 - 22 ° c ., with the controls and decontaminant present in 100 ml batch systems in deionized water . batch system concentrations of reactants , as applicable , were 6 . 2 % w / v sodium bicarbonate ( 12 % w / v for ph 8 . 5 studies ), 3 . 6 % w / v sodium carbonate ( only for ph 8 . 5 studies ), 10 % w / v monopersulfate ( oxone ®), 5 . 4 % w / v sodium chloride , and 10 % w / v potassium sulfate . the results indicated that chloride alone and monopersulfate alone were considerably ineffective at achieving degradation of this form of substrate , while the combination of the present invention at both ph 7 and ph 8 . 5 demonstrated a significant increase of 167 % and 191 % respectively over the independent reagents . only a slight difference was observed between pseudo - first order degradation rates of paraoxon by the monopersulfate - chloride solutions at ph 7 and ph 8 . 5 , which were measured at 0 . 0106 min − 1 and 0 . 0152 min − 1 , respectively . a more dilute monopersulfate - chloride system was also tested for degradation of 99 +% for hd and vx simulants , where degradation was observed within minutes of exposure . when seawater was used as a halide source for a buffered monopersulfate system , similar degradation patterns towards the functionalities present in h , v , and g - simulants were observed . the nerve agent gb is known to hydrolyze in seawater alone with a half - life of 30 minutes at 25 ° c . and ph 7 . 9 , and the oxidant - halide formulation of the present invention is not expected to hinder , but rather enhance , the degradation rates of these particular classes of agents . the stability of the active chlorine species of the present invention was measured in situ from a monopersulfate - chloride system , and compared to that measured from an unbuffered commercial bleach stock . the system for in situ generation of active chlorine species was prepared in 100 ml batch systems with resulting concentrations of each reactant at 10 % w / v monopersulfate ( oxone ®), 5 . 4 % w / v sodium chloride , and 6 . 2 % w / v sodium bicarbonate , as applicable , balanced in deionized water at 20 °- 22 ° c . the active chlorine oxidant measured from a bicarbonate buffered monopersulfate - chloride system was as stable as the hypochlorite content measured from a commercially sold bleach solution when monitored over 7 hours . the amount of in situ generated active chlorine species from the monopersulfate system was 3 . 9 % ( w / v ), approximately the same concentration found in commercial bleach at 4 . 3 % ( w / v ). the ph stability of the neutral conditions of the in situ system also remained stable for two days at ph 7 . 2 . this demonstrates an advantage for an in situ generated mixed oxidant solution in that corrosiveness can be controlled for the most part with the use of carbonate - type ( or similar type ) buffers as opposed to applications of dilute bleach solutions that are based in alkaline hydroxide . the distribution of hypochlorous acid ( hocl ) to hypochlorite ( ocl − ) species generated in situ in the monopersulfate - chloride system was essentially equal in proportion within a neutral ph range , with only a minor amount of chlorate ( clo 3 − ) measured as a decomposition product . this decomposition product is a common occurrence being also measured in various commercial bleach stock solutions . overall mass recovery of chloride species measured in the monopersulfate - chloride system , relative to controls , began at 99 . 7 % with a gradual decrease over 7 hours to 92 . 5 %, likely due to some volatility of reactive species over time . it should be noted that the measurement of hypochlorite species in this system does not exclude the potential presence of other unidentified reactive species that play a role in the synergistic effect observed towards chemical and biological substrates . for biological studies , the following table shows a monopersulfate - chloride system that achieved 7 - log inactivation of bacillus thuringiensis spores ( an anthrax simulant ) in 50 ml systems at 20 - 22 ° c ., within 10 minutes of exposure , exceeding the kill efficiency of buffered monopersulfate alone . system concentrations of each reactant , as applicable , were 10 % w / v monopersulfate ( oxone ®), 5 . 4 % w / v sodium chloride , 6 . 2 % w / v sodium bicarbonate , and 10 % v / v acetone ( for generation of a dimethyl dioxirane ( dmdo ) in the presence of buffered monopersulfate ), all at ph 7 . 4 . the in situ generation of triiodide was also measured from a system to which iodide salt was added to a dilute aqueous solution of buffered monopersulfate . it is known that oxidized species of bromide and iodide are powerful disinfectants . the disclosed formulation method has the advantage of providing a more effective chemical and biological decontaminant in that reactions can be achieved at increased rates and milder conditions with addition of halide salt to the system . the disclosed invention allows for a formulation that can be effectively utilized within a non - corrosive neutral ph range , resulting in an ideal solution that can be applied to various contaminated surfaces . however , the halide - enhanced formulation of the present invention is not limited to the use or presence of a buffer .
the disclosed invention is a method for the production of a universal decontaminant solution comprised of at least one oxidant and halide salt for neutralizing chemical toxicants that include organosulfur and organophosphorus - containing compounds , such as those found as pesticides , herbicides , or chemical warfare agents , as well as providing disinfection capability against viruses , bacteria , spores , fungi , toxins , and those classified as biological warfare agents . the overall generation and application of the decontaminant solution creates an unexpected synergistic effect toward rates of detoxification , whereas in most cases where the same oxidants were used individually , the same result would not be achieved . a method for the in situ generation of hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite by a monopersulfate compound and alkali metal chloride salt is also described .