The Contamination Indicator Decontamination Assurance Spray (CIDAS), developed by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, provides a vivid color indication in minutes to identify when various chemical weapons are present on materials and vehicles.
Having access to a suite of CIDAS formulations will enable DoD personnel to visually locate blister, nerve and non-traditional agent contamination in operational conditions. CIDAS provides actionable information to enable more accurate decontamination processes, and reduces cost by allowing “spot or pinpoint decontamination” to identify specific contaminated areas rather than using resources to treat an entire surface.
Researchers have recently tested a new formulation with improvements to color indication for blister agents and shelf life. The testing was conducted on a variety of surfaces including weapons, tactical vehicles and aircraft, under various temperatures and environmental conditions.
The new formulation provided a significant improvement in the color indication and a 50 percent improvement in stability under extreme temperature cycling between 70 degrees and 25 degrees Celsius.
DTRA’s Chemical and Biological Technologies Department recently transitioned the improved CIDAS technology to the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense for further technological evolution.