Volume 2, Number 1 October 2006
The quarterly update of U.S. EPA's Homeland Security
Technology Testing fr Evaluation Program (TTEP)
Welcome to TTEP
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is actively participating in the national
homeland security effort by ensuring the pro-
tection of the nation's drinking water systems
and the safety of the public in buildings and
other structures. EPA's Office of Research
and Development's National Homeland Secu-
rity Research Center (NHSRC) has estab-
lished the Technology Testing and Evaluation
Program (TTEP) to assist this effort.
TTEP is conducting third-party perfor-
mance evaluations of commercially available
homeland security technologies, incorporat-
ing stakeholder guidance and a high degree
of quality assurance (QA) oversight. The
users of information generated by TTEP are
expected to include water utility operators,
building and facility managers, emergency
responders, health officials, regulators, the
public, and the developers of homeland
security technologies.
Evaluation of All Hazards Receipt
Facility Screening Technologies
An ongoing TTEP evaluation related to
detection technologies supports EPA's All
Hazards Receipt Facility (AHRF) initiative.
An AHRF is intended to receive samples
collected from a site contaminated by
a terrorist or another unknown event,
and screen those samples for chemical,
radiation, and explosives contamination
in order to protect the safety of labora-
tory personnel who would subsequently
analyze the samples. Approximately 20
screening technologies are being evaluat-
ed. Because of the need for rapid sample
screening, most of those technologies are
simple devices such as color indicator pa-
pers, test kits, or indicating tubes. How-
ever, three hand-held electronic devices,
an ion mobility spectrometer, a flame spec-
trometer, and a photoionization detector,
will also be evaluated. These technologies
will be tested for detection of dangerous
levels of toxic industrial chemicals (TICs)
and chemical warfare agents (CWAs) in
the vapor phase, in liquid samples, and on
surfaces. The TICs are hydrogen cyanide,
cyanogen chloride, arsine, phosgene,
chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, fluoride, and
hydrogen peroxide, and the CWAs are
sarin (designated GB), sulfur mustard (HD),
lewisite (L), and the nerve agent VX.
See AHRF Page 2
Sample Collection for TTEP's Ultrafiltration Cartridge Evaluation
As part of the ongoing TTEP evaluation of ultrafiltration cartridges, 650 gallons of New York City finished drinking water were collected in May
from a Bronx, NY site (shown in left two pictures) and shipped to Battelle in Columbus, OH (shown right). New York City water is not filtered
during treatment, therefore making it a unique sample matrix for challenging these ultrafiltration cartridges. For information contact Dr. Alan
Lindquist (lindquist.alanOepa.gov or 513-569-7192) or Ms. Patricia Holowecky (holoweckypObattelle.org or 614-424-7885).
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AHRF from page 1
Each candidate technology will be
tested with each TIC and CWA it purports
to detect and in each sample matrix
for which the technology is applicable.
Testing will assess the reliability of each
under normal laboratory conditions, as
well as the effects of potential interfer-
ences and temperature and relative humid-
ity variations. Testing with vapor-phase
TICs is nearly complete, and testing with
in October. For more information, contact
Mr. Eric Koglin (koglin.eric(o)epa.gov or
702-798-2332) or Dr. Tom Kelly
(kellytObattelle.ora or 614-424-3495).
technology for screening of clean samples both liquid and surface samples will begin
Persistence Testing of the Vaccinia Virus
An understanding of the persistence
of biological agents, chemical agents,
and toxic industrial chemicals on indoor
building materials is important for
protection of first responders from a
deliberate or accidental release, properly
planning approaches to decontami-
nate buildings, and correctly interpret
efficacy data from use of decontamina-
tion technologies. To gather such data,
TTEP, under the direction of EPA staff,
is measuring persistence of chemicals,
toxins, and living biological organisms
on indoor building materials under vari-
ous environmental conditions consistent
with those that might be achieved using
a heating, ventilation, and air condition-
ing (HVAC) system. The most recent
work performed in this area measured
the persistence of the vaccinia virus, a
surrogate for Variola major (smallpox
virus), on galvanized metal and painted
concrete.
The persistence of viable vaccinia
virus was measured after 3, 9, or 14 day
exposure to ambient conditions (20°C,
40 - 70% relative humidity [RH]), high
RH conditions (>70% relative humidity
at 30°C), or low RH (<40% at 30°C).
Persistence of the vaccinia virus was
gauged by comparing the viable virus
(plaque-forming units) extracted one
hour after spiking the coupon of indoor
building material to the amount of viable
virus extracted from the same type of
coupons over a more extended time.
The results, summarized in the table
above, indicate that the viable virus
Building Humidity
Material Level
Galvanized
Metal
Painted
Concrete
Low
Ambient
High
Low
Ambient
High
Did viable virus remain?
After 3 days I After 9 days I After 1 4 days
yes
no
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
no
yes
yes
no
yes
no
no
yes
yes
no
persisted on galvanized metal and painted
concrete for up to 14 days under low
RH conditions; but at the two higher RH
conditions, the persistence of the virus de-
pended on the type of material onto which
it was applied. When applied onto gal-
vanized metal, the virus persisted for less
than three days under ambient and high
RH conditions. When applied to painted
concrete, the virus persisted for less than
9 days under the high RH and at least 14
days under ambient conditions. This is
significant because, it had been thought
that 24 hours would be the maximum
persistence under such typical conditions.
The results suggest that elevated percent
RH may be useful for encouraging natural
attenuation of vaccinia virus before and
during the application of a decontamina-
tion technology.
Persistence testing has also been
completed for ricin toxin, dimethyl methyl
phosphonate (a surrogate for sarin),
malathion (a surrogate for VX), and
trinitrotoluene (TNT, a high explosive).
A report describing these results in
complete detail will be available later this
year. For further information on TTEP
persistence testing, contact Dr. Shawn
Ryan (ryan.shawn(5)epa.qov or
919-541-0699) or Dr. Harry Stone
(stonehObattelle.ora or 513-362-2602).
Attention TTEP
Stakeholders
Both the TTEP Water Security and
Decontamination Stakeholder com
mittees will be convening in the
near future. 1 !/2 hour conference
calls will be held this fall to brief
you on the ongoing TTEP activities
and one day, face-to-face meetings
are being planned for 2007. Watch
your email for an announcement. If
you have questions, please contact
aov or 702-798-2332) or Ms. Rachel
614-424-3579).
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