Patent ID: 7531132

Claim:
A method of decontaminating materials contaminated with chemical or biological warfare agents consisting of the steps of: preparing a first solution consisting of water, one or more monopersulfate compounds, and one or more buffers selected from the group consisting of alkali metal salts of bicarbonate and carbonate; and preparing a second solution consisting of one or more ketones, at least one of said ketones being selected from the group consisting of acetone, 2-butanone, 2-pentanone, 2-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone, hexafluoroacetone, trifluoroacetone, acetophenone, camphorsulfonic acid, and levulinic acid, wherein the first solution and the second solution are separately contained; forming a decontaminating composition having a pH of from 5 to about 9, by mixing said first solution and said second solution to achieve in situ generation of dioxirane in the composition; and contacting said composition with materials contaminated by chemical or biological warfare agents.