Science Inventory

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Report on the Wide Area Demonstration (WAD) under the Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR) project. The AnCOR WAD was conducted from May 2 through May 27, 2022. The test venue was located at Fort A.P. Hill (FAPH), Bowling Green, VA. All work will was conducted at F...

A release of a chemical warfare agent (CWA) will create an acute and significant exposure risk to the public as well as remediation contractors who would be tasked to cleanup a contaminated site. It would require decontamination of the contaminated area which may hold sensitive e...

Field-level exercises with the purpose to assess remediation following the deliberate release of a highly toxic chemical in an indoor environment can be conducted using low(er) toxicity simulants if they are closely linked to the behavior of the toxic chemical itself. Experimenta...

The timely decontamination of high-density urban areas is critical in the face of a terror event involving radioactive cesium (Cs), which has a 30- year half-life with an energetic 662 keV gamma ray released during decay. This technical brief is intended for local, state and fede...

EPA’s Homeland Security Research Program conducts decontamination efficacy studies that identify technologies that can be used to clean surfaces, materials, or objects contaminated with chemical, biological, or radiological agents. This project consisted of an assessment of the m...

Rapid decontamination following a biological terror incident is paramount for the return of a city’s operations and economy to normalcy. An outdoor urban biological agent incident may require remediation of thousands of vehicles. In this research, the utilization of widely availa...

This brief provides operating information based on reviewed field experience [1] and laboratory experiments [2-5]. While it discusses general safety, this technical brief does not discuss the safe operation of pressurized sprayer equipment to avoid physical hazards which are typi...

The RRLT database includes detailed information on the equipment’s everyday function, its effectiveness on different surfaces and forms of radioactive contaminants, the scale for which the equipment may be applied, the skill required of the operator, utility requirements, legal a...

This EPA report provides information on decontamination options for surfaces contaminated with a fourth generation (chemical) agent. Decontaminants and surfaces were selected based on expected higher material compatibility than e.g., corrosive bleach with materials associated wit...

Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Homeland Security Research Program (HSRP), research is being conducted necessary for identification of methods and technologies that can be used during hazardous materials remediation and cleanup efforts. The th...

This study was conducted to help the USCG recover rapidly following a biological contamination incident and return assets to duty. Determination of asset contamination status is necessary to make decisions regarding asset safety and deployability. The outcome of the study describ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was developed to protect human health and the environment by ensuring the nation has clean air, land, and water. Towards this effort, the Agency provides scientific solutions through the development of analytical methods and risk-based hea...

Ultraviolet-C (UVC) radiation has long been used to disinfect air, water, and surfaces. The COVID-19 pandemic has recently raised interest in using UVC devices as an alternative approach for disinfecting surfaces and materials, as an increasing number of UVC devices come to marke...

Wide-area remediation following a B. anthracis (Ba) spore release presents many issues including balancing the limited resources available with the need to characterize contamination, conduct decontamination, and management of post-decontamination waste. Capabilities and an opera...

This report addresses options to improve on the decontamination of permeable materials that are contaminated with a toxic chemical that has transferred into such material. Here, two surrogates of chemical warfare agents are considered to investigate the degree of transport, mater...

An accidental radiological release or the operation of a radiological dispersal device (RDD) may lead to the contamination of a large area. Such scenarios may lead to health and safety risks associated with the resuspension of contaminated particles due to aeolian (wind-induced) ...

To mitigate the effects following a large-scale nuclear or radiological material release in an urban environment and to expedite recovery, the Integrated Wash-Aid Treatment Emergency Reuse System (IWATERS) was developed. IWATERS consists of three operations: washing contaminated ...

This paper presents the process used to develop an overland flow model of radionuclide transport following an aerosol deposition from a hypothetical radiological dispersal device explosion. The process included the integration of digital elevation, building, and land cover inform...

During the immediate, emergency phase of a response to a radiological dispersal device (RDD), an improvised nuclear device (IND), or accidental radiological release, emergency responders may be exposed to radioactivity due to inhalation and direct contact. It is important to mini...

This is a protocol for detection of ricin biotoxin in environmental samples. It includes two sensitive and specific analytical methods including the ElectroChemiLuminescence-Based Immunoassay (ECL-IA) and the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), also known as the Hand-Held ...

This technical brief provides decision makers with a practical summary of recent US EPA scientific information and data related to the technical challenges involved with remediating a fentanyl-contaminated indoor site. The research topics included in this summary are indoor build...

Second update to the ORD CoVID-19 Environmental Research website on UVC disinfection.

Data report on UV disinfection results of materials contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 or two potential surrogates thereof. Data report is intended for publication on the ORD CoVID -19 environmental research webpage

This report addresses the application of low concentration hydrogen peroxide vapor for the remediation of surfaces contaminated with the persistent chemical warfare agents VX and sulfur mustard (HD) and the pesticide (and chemical warfare agent surrogate) malathion. A low concent...

This document provides step-by-step instructions for the use of impingers, impacters and filters to collect samples from air potentially contaminated with pathogens. It is intended to be used in conjunction with the analytical methods listed in U.S. Environmental Protection Agenc...