In protection against chemical warfare agents the decontamination is an important unavoidable part. The aim of decontamination is to rapidly and effectively render harmless or remove poisonous substances both on personnel and equipment. High decontamination capacity is one of the factors which may reduce the effect of an attack with Sarin gas. In this way, it may act as a deterrent. Equipment can be covered, or easily decontaminated equipment can be chosen by suitable design and a more resistant surface cover.
Decontamination is time consuming and requires resources.
Nerve agents are easily soluble in, and penetrate many different types of material, such as paint, plastics and rubber, all of which renders decontamination more difficult. If nerve agents have penetrated sufficiently deep, then toxic gases can be released from the material for long periods afterwards. By adding substances which increase the viscosity of a sarin, its persistence time and adhesive ability can be increased. This thickened sarin will therfore be more difficult to decontaminate with liquid decontaminants since they adhere to the material and are difficult to dissolve. Most nerve agents can be destroyed by means of suitable chemicals.