Up to 500 pub-goers in the English town of Salisbury have been told to wash their possessions as a precaution after traces of the substance used to poison ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found around a table where the pair ate.
The table at the Zizzi restaurant has been destroyed along with other items.
The restaurant could take weeks to re-open, while traces of the nerve agent were also found at The Mill pub in Salisbury.
Sergei and Yulia Skirpal remain in critical but stable conditions in hospital.
"There may be a very small health risk associated with repeated contact with belongings which may have been contaminated by this substance," Public Health England's Deputy Medical Director Jenny Harries said.
"So we're recommending a very very precautionary approach is taken. And we're advising people to clean the clothes that they were wearing and any possessions that they had with them at the time.
"So these are quite simple things to do, many of the public may have done them already."
Alastair Hay, from the University of Leeds, told the BBC nerve agents degrade in the environment.
"Contact with moisture will lead to breakdown of the nerve agent - this is why people having visited the restaurant or pub in question last Sunday afternoon or Monday are being advised to wash their possessions," he said.
The police officer who attended to the family, Det Sgt Nick Bailey, remains seriously ill in hospital.
More than 250 counter-terrorism police are now involved in the investigation, which has yielded 200 pieces of evidence so far and more than 240 witnesses.
Russia has denied any involvement.
People who were at the venue before closure on Monday have been advised to do the following:
- Clothes should be washed, ideally in a washing machine
- Clothes which cannot be washed, for example if they need dry cleaning, should be double bagged in plastic until further notice
- Mobile phones, handbags and other electronic items should be wiped with baby wipes, which should be bagged in plastic and put in the bin
- Other items such as jewellery and glasses should be washed with warm water and detergent
- Hands should be washed after the handling of any items suspected of being contaminated.
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