CBRN mobile laboratories in Italy

The paper describes the experiences in Italy with the CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear) defense mobile laboratories. These laboratories were constructed by the Italian Army and the Italian Fire Brigades. The purpose of these mobile laboratories is to allow quick transport of the labs to the area of crisis in order to support emergency response in case of CBRN events. The differences between two alternative solutions will be developed in the paper. The first solution is when the lab is to be located in the "dangerous area" (this solution was chosen by the Italian Army) and the alternative approach is to place the mobile lab just outside the dangerous area (this approach was selected by the Italian Fire Brigades). One of the most important devices inside the lab is the isolator (also called "glove box") which allows safe ingress and handling of the "suspicious" samples from the external environment. The isolator has a special chamber for transfer of the sample from the outside. The pressure of the isolator is permanently kept below the air pressure inside the lab by means of one (or more) fan. The operators perform the sample preparations or part of the analysis by handling the sample with the gloves. The material flow inside the lab will be described depending on the kind of identification analysis to be done on the samples. Other devices installed on the mobile CBRN laboratories are: biohazard hood (UE regulation, containment level 2); autoclave; freezer; cleaning skid (tanks, pumps, etc.).