ABSTRACT
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 385 Passive Barrier Creams ................................................................................................................... 387 Active Barrier Creams..................................................................................................................... 388
Efficacy Evaluation Methods ...................................................................................................... 389 Results and Conclusions............................................................................................................. 391
Transdermal Chemical Inhibitors................................................................................................... 393 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 394 References....................................................................................................................................... 395
The Joint Forces of the U.S. military must operate across the continuum of global contingency operations. These forces have an immediate need to safely operate, survive, and sustain operations in chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN), toxic industrial material (TIM), toxic industrial chemical (TIC), and new threat agent (NTA) hazardous environments. To accomplish this mission, service members use a combination of protective equipment including a chemical protective suit and barrier skin creams. If the systems fail to protect the service member from the effects of toxic agents, pre-and postexposure treatment therapies and decontamination systems are available to limit the harmful consequences of exposure. This chapter will focus on the use of barrier skin creams to retard the percutaneous absorption of chemical warfare agents (CWAs).
