Sticky foam technology for less-than-lethal force situations

Sticky foam is an extremely tacky, tenacious material used to entangle and impair an individual. It was developed at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in the late 1970's for usage in nuclear safeguards and security applications. In late 1992, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the Department of Justice, began a project with SNL to determine the applicability of sticky foam for law enforcement usage. The objectives of the project were to develop a dispenser capable of firing sticky foam, to conduct an extensive toxicology review of sticky foam (formulation SF-283), to test the developed dispenser and sticky foam effectiveness on SNL volunteers acting out prison and law enforcement scenarios, and to have the dispenser and sticky foam further evaluated by correctional representatives. This paper discusses the results of the project.<>