Protective clothing is essential to maintaining operations and saving lives in environments containing toxic materials, e.g., warfare chemicals (wc). Unfortunately, traditional approaches to protective clothing have resulted in a trade-off between quality of protection vs. Physical and heat-stress burden on the user. The less permeable fabrics block wc better but also block the evaporation of sweat and thus cooling of the wearer who has to continue and function under increased stress. Preliminary studies in our laboratory suggest that certain materials can be added to the fabric that (1) catalyze the hydrolytic reaction between sweat and wc and thus enhance the rate of their detoxification, (2) do not restrict and possibly increase the rate of water permeation and thus reduce the heat stress of the wearer and (3) are potentially light-weight materials which are compatible with existing garment manufacturing technology. The main objectives of the proposed work are to identify the ideal fabric-additives/catalysts for the hydrolytic detoxification of wc and to determine their effect on the rate of water and of wc permeation through the fabric. The use of fabrics modified in this manner will improve and increase the possible length of work and the performance of soldiers in contaminated environments and will save lives due to reduced exposure and/or stress.
