Office of Research and Development Publications

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The drinking water distribution system is vulnerable to contamination, which presents challenges to maintaining good water quality and ensuring water availability. Decontamination of drinking water systems, following an intentional contamination incident or a natural disaster, is...

This technical brief summarizes research conducted in EPA's Homeland Security Research Program to support development of technologies and practices for managing and treating decontamination wash water resulting from a Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) contamination incident. This bri...

This brief provides a summary of two recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bench-scale studies assessing the persistence of VX on various building material surfaces. This overview provides decision‐makers with practical information on the expected persistence of VX fo...

On May 8-10, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Research and Development’s National Homeland Security Research Center (ORD/NHSRC) hosted the 10th U.S. EPA International Decontamination Research and Development Conference at the EPA facilities in Re...

Francisella tularensis, the bacterium that causes Tularemia infection, is a high-priority bioterrorism agent. There is no step‐by‐step analytical protocol for detection of Francisella tularensis in environmental samples that can be used by the EPA’s Environmental Response Laborat...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for helping communities prepare for and recover from disasters that result in threats to public health and the environment. EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center’s (NHSRC) mission is to focus on the research...

During the immediate, emergency phase of a response, it will be impossible to initiate activities other than establishing life-saving operations and securing a site for the safety of the public and first responders. This report contains a comprehensive list of proposed equipment ...

The objectives of this project were to evaluate the effectiveness of: (1) a physical scouring (pigging) technology for removing Bacillus globigii spores following intentional contamination of the Water Security Test Bed (WSTB). First responders and decision makers managing a wate...

EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) coordinated a one-day workshop on Vehicle Waste Management and Disposal, which was held on Monday, November 13, 2017, at EPA’s Potomac Yard South located in Arlington, Virginia. The workshop brought together officials from ...

This effort sought to assess the impact of potential real-world interferents (RWIs) present in Sponge-Stick and Vacuum Cassettes (VCF) samples on current culture and molecular analysis methods. Having an assessment of the impact, if any, will help EPA understand limitations of th...

This technology evaluation report included use of low-tech decontamination methods on surfaces common to outdoor residential environments and included evaluating the decontamination efficacy, method constraints, safety concerns, feasibility, waste generation, potential exposure, ...

Under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Homeland Security Research Program (US EPA HSRP), the National Homeland Security Research Center conducts research necessary to identify methods and technologies that can be used for the decontamination of equipment and surfaces contam...

Improving the way in which information is shared amongst decision makers, scientists, and responders, as well as models and decision support systems, is critical to the success of any response or recovery operation. Current data sharing capabilities exist; however, the ability to...

Model/Guide

This study examined decontamination of non-radioactive cesium, strontium and cobalt in a pilot scale model of a drinking water distribution system. The system was outfitted with coupons (excised pipe wall samples) of corroded iron and cement-mortar, which are common distribution...

Journal Article

Journal Article--Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of inhalation anthrax, is one of the most highly studied biological threat agents, yet consensus is still lacking on an appropriate dose-response relationship to describe human health effects from low doses and multiple exp...

Please find below 4 links for downloading, installing and using the TEVA-SPOT graphical user interface (GUI) software. For the complete TEVA-SPOT-GUI software package, please download the ZIP file. A description of each of the 4 links, including the contents of the ZIP file, is...

CANARY is a free EPA software product used to enhance the detection of contamination incidents in distribution systems (i.e. Event Detection System) using typical water quality sensors such as those measuring free chlorine, total organic carbon, and electrical conductivity. Worki...

Polymeric materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene are used extensively for drinking water applications. These materials are subject to permeation by organic compounds, such as those found in petroleum products and industrial chemicals, which can result in water quality i...

High pressure decontamination of certain surface building materials is concluded to be a promising rapid, readily available response technique, with the data from this study informing its practical implementation. Removal efficacy of radionuclides from concrete are high when perf...

Symposium Paper

Report

The sorption and desorption properties of radionuclides onto common building materials such as concrete are critical factors in the improvement of techniques for mitigating a release of nuclear or radiological material to the urban environment. A potential option for the early p...

Journal Article