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General Information
Categories: biotechnology & health, environment
BSA 02-26: Bacterial Spore Terminator
BNL Reference Number: BSA 02-26
Patent Status: U.S. Patent Number 7,198,750 was issued on April 3, 2007
Summary
The bacterial spore terminator vacuums up anthrax and other bacterial spores, then “tricks” the spores into germinating through heat and moisture, thus making them vulnerable to injury. The newly activated spores are then bombarded with alpha particles, a form of radioactivity that does not penetrate skin or clothes. The alpha particles kill the spores, rendering them nontoxic.
Description
The bacterial spore terminator is a spore collection and elimination apparatus. The bacterial spore terminator consists of a suction source to collect the bacterial spores, a nebulizer mounted to a heating element for warming and moisturizing the collected spores, an ionization chamber containing polonium 210 is mounted to the nebulizer for alpha particle irradiation of the spores and finally a filter canister containing the filters having low-level polonium 210 inserts is attached to the ionization chamber.
Benefits
The bacterial spore terminator has several advantages over current methods of killing bacterial spores. The use of polonium to produce alpha particles virtually eliminates the health and radiation hazards associated with gamma and x-ray sources. The polonium source does not need heavy shielding, so the device is light-weight and easily portable. Since the polonium is contained in a closed source, it is not airborne, so there is no danger of inhaling it.
Applications and Industries
The bacterial spore terminator can be built either as a portable system, or it can be retrofitted as part of a building’s heating, ventilating and air conditioning system.
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Have Questions?
For more information about this technology, contact Poornima Upadhya, (631) 344-4711.
Tags: air quality
