Hawaii Invention Helps Japan Clean Up Radiation
CBI Polymers
A Hawaii company that invented a gel that can mop up radioactive particles is helping out with radiation clean-up efforts in Japan.
Honolulu-based CBI Polymers has donated $250,000 in radiological decontamination products and services to the Japanese Medical Association. The company invented DeconGel, a peelable hydrogel that binds and encapsulates radioactive surface particles. The bright blue gel can be used to decontaminate objects and surfaces.
The Japanese requested the gel to supplement its public health and emergency relief efforts in the Tohoku region, Japan’s most severely-affected northeastern coast. Ten pallets of DeconGel have been shipped.
CBI Polymers' donations to Japan come as Japan raised its nuclear threat level from five to seven, ranking it alongside the Chernobyl disaster.
