Sampling Procedures Using Commercially Available Robotic Floor Cleaners for Bacillus anthracis Spores
Citation:
Lee, S. Sampling Procedures Using Commercially Available Robotic Floor Cleaners for Bacillus anthracis Spores. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC, EPA/600/S-17/261, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
The procedures are intended to guide trained incident-responders step-by-step to collect environmental samples following a biological contamination incident. The procedures are applicable to the collection of surface-bound particulates and microorganisms using off–the-shelf RFCs following a contamination incident. The purpose of the procedures is to guide the process of preparation, deployment, and collection using RFCs for sampling surfaces from a specified area. The collected samples will be used to determine presence/absence and/or contamination level after natural outbreaks, and intentional or accidental releases, of pathogenic microorganisms and biotoxins. The procedures recommended for two robotic cleaners are detailed in Appendix I (Mint 5200 from Evolution Robotics (currently iRobot Inc., Bedford, MA)) and Appendix II (XV -21 Neato Robotic Cleaner).
Description:
This technical brief fact sheet provides the current version of sampling procedure using commercially available robotic floor cleaners. These sampling procedures were developed by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Homeland Security Research Program within EPA’s Office of Research and Development jointly with the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Consequence Management Advisory Division within EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management.