During DOTS development, Dr. Paul Sides of the Chemical Engineering Department at CMU was engaged and subjected the DOTS media to Battelle Class II accelerated environmental age testing. The testing lasted 194 days, and there was no detectible degradation to the DOTS media. Tests were terminated prior to achieving media failure due to lack of funding.
While the full life expectancy wasn’t determined, if we only take the period of successful testing into account, we arrive at the following conclusions:
Battelle Class II testing mimics real lifespan at a ratio of 1:180. For example, one day of BC II exposure equals 180 days of exposure in the “real world.”
The 194 days of BC II exposure for DOTS is the equivalent of 194×180 days, which is equal to 95.7 years.
There was no discernible damage to the media after the equivalent of 95.7 years.
Since then, Group 47 has subjected samples of DOTS media to over 72 hours of immersion respectively in water, benzine, isopropyl alcohol, and Clorox™ Toilet Bowl Cleaner. In each case, there was no detectable damage to the DOTS media. However, when subjected to the citric acid of Sprite carbonated beverage, the metal had visibly deteriorated within six hours.
Group 47 is making available samples of DOTS media for further confirmation of its archival life, and several high-profile institutions have offered to test the DOTS media.