Decontamination

{{Short description|Process of removing or neutralising harmful substances}}

{{For-text|DECON|Nuclear decommissioning}}

{{Wiktionary}}

Decontamination (sometimes abbreviated as decon, dcon, or decontam) is the process of removing contaminants on an object or area, including chemicals, micro-organisms, and/or radioactive substances. This may be achieved by chemical reaction, disinfection, and/or physical removal. It refers to specific action taken to reduce the hazard posed by such contaminants, as opposed to general cleaning.

Decontamination is most commonly used in medical environments, including dentistry, surgery, and veterinary science, in the process of food preparation, in environmental science,{{cite web |title="Water Decontamination", in McGraw Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology 2004, p 372 |url=http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf2004/fpl_2004_rowell002.pdf |access-date=2013-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109050430/https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf2004/fpl_2004_rowell002.pdf |archive-date=2020-01-09}} and in forensic science.{{cite journal |title=Evaluation of a decontamination protocol for hair shafts before mtDNA sequencing |year=1998 |journal=Forensic Science International |volume=94 |issue=1–2 |pages=65–71 |last1=Jehaes |first1=Els |last2=Gilissen |first2=Anja |last3=Cassiman |first3=Jean-Jacques |last4=Decorte |first4=Ronny |pmid=9670485 |doi=10.1016/S0379-0738(98)00052-8}}