Environmental Sciences and Engineering

SwRI provides engineering and scientific services to industry and government to assess and manage environmental pollution. Institute scientists and engineers monitor and analyze emissions and develop technologies to remediate sites contaminated by toxic materials. SwRI staff members also perform applied engineering research, pilot-scale treatability studies, and major health and environmental risk assessments, develop new sampling and analytical methods, and test new process control technologies. Training is under way toward gaining ISO 9000 certification by the spring of 1999.

A pilot study to investigate the presence of endocrine disrupting chemicals in certain Massachusetts residences has been initiated in collaboration with Silent Spring Institute of Newton, Massachusetts, with funding by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. This study builds on technology developed at SwRI to measure alkylphenols in groundwater and wastewater, and pesticides and other organic chemicals in air and in carpet dust. It targets suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as alkylphenols, alkylphenol ethoxylates, phthalates, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and pesticides, to assess human exposure to these chemicals.

Combustion products from destroyed chemical weapons are removed prior to release from a pollution abatement system discharge stack at the Johnston Atoll demilitarization site, where SwRI provides environmental monitoring services. Besides the Johnston Atoll facility in the North Pacific, SwRI provides similar services at a facility located near Umatilla, Oregon, and a facility to be built near Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

SwRI is providing chemistry support for the U.S. Department of Defense Military Working Dog Veterinary Services to determine the feasibility of training military working dogs to detect extremely small quantities of chemical warfare agents. The support includes synthesis of chemicals, chemical characterization of odor signatures, preparation of training aids, and workplace safety monitoring. Dogs have a sense of smell estimated to be 1,000 times more acute than humans and can often detect minute quantities of chemicals. This feasibility study uses a substitute chemical that is a licensed veterinary drug.

The Institute is in its second year of a contract to provide bioanalytical chemistry support for clinical trials of antisense biopharmaceuticals. Antisense drugs interrupt the process by which disease-causing proteins are produced. Analysis involves using capillary gel electrophoresis to separate metabolites for detection. With the resulting data, researchers can monitor how the human body processes the drug in order to assure safety and regulate dosages during experimental human trials.

SwRI assisted a team fighting an underground coal mine fire in Mexico by setting up sophisticated laboratory equipment near the burning mine when field monitoring equipment at the site lacked the diversity of capabilities needed. The SwRI team had to mobilize, within 48 hours, two laboratory-size gas chromatographs at the remote location to test a wide range of components in gas samples. The analyses were used to determine the chemical composition of gases given off by the smoldering coal.

SwRI's Environmental Chemistry and Fire Technology Departments jointly provided emergency response testing and analysis as part of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) accident investigation. The program, coordinated with DOE and Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, provided data to help identify the accident's root causes. Testing provided materials from the site, and multiple mannequin-simulated tests were performed with plotted temperature ranges. Flammability tests and analyses of other organic constituents were then conducted.

SwRI's emergency environmental response team responded to several incidents during the past year. At one fire, thick smoke and fumes generated concern that the fumes might contain toxic organic chemicals and cyanide. SwRI supported state environmental officials by supplying air sampling equipment such as evacuated canisters, wipes, and impingers, then analyzing them to determine the type and quantity of chemicals being released. Another fire released solvents into the air, prompting evacuation of nearby residents. SwRI technical personnel provided overnight support to fire officials by collecting and analyzing air samples in evacuated canisters, as well as wipe samples from affected buildings and firefighters' personal protection equipment.

An SwRI chemist prepares environmental samples for radiochemical analysis. The Institute has the capability to detect radioactive contamination over a broad spectrum in air, water, soil, biota, and other materials.

As part of the pilot phase of the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Institute determined the dermal exposure to herbicides among seven farmer- applicators during mixing, loading, and boom spraying of 12 tank-loads of chemicals. Tractor-pulled boom sprayers are the most common method for applying herbicides to row crops in the United States. The measured amounts found on the hands and rest of the body of the farmers, who used their normal application practices, were compared to the exposure studies in the Pesticide Handlers Exposure Database (PHED), which were performed according to product label directions to register the herbicides for use. The largest hand exposures to ground boom-applied herbicides found in the AHS study involved equipment repairs during application and accidental contact with the concentrate during mixing. This showed the PHED may underestimate the median and geometric mean hand exposures of ground-boom applicators who wear gloves during mixing and loading.

Epidemiological studies of the association between residential pesticide use and cancer risk require an assessment of past pesticide exposures. The Institute pioneered the use of measured concentrations of pesticides, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in carpet dust for use in epidemiological studies as an indicator of past, non-dietary exposure to these toxic chemicals. SwRI, a recognized leader in analysis of carpet dust for these compounds, analyzed samples from 149 homes of women enrolled in the Long Island Breast Cancer Study, conducted by Columbia University under NIH sponsorship. For the National Cancer Institute, SwRI determined the levels of pesticides, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in carpet dust taken from 15 homes using the ASTM standard vacuum method and also by testing used vacuum cleaner bags. Since the two methods provided similar concentration data, NCI plans to use the simpler used bag method in a large case-control study of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Although the presence of chemical warfare agents in ambient air can be detected with instruments that are specific to sulfur and phosphorus contained in those compounds, numerous other compounds, such as agricultural pesticides, also may contain those elements. These interferents can create false indications that chemical agents are present in areas surrounding chemical weapon demilitarization facilities. To minimize the potential of false alarms, the staff of the SwRI surety laboratory is assisting the U.S. Army in evaluating the presence of interferents at proposed demilitarization facility sites. The program requires that agricultural pesticides known to be used in the area be evaluated and that existing monitoring methods be optimized to remove any resulting interference. Other compounds identified in the air samples that could interfere will be included in a data base to be used by the demilitarization facilities to aid in interpreting analytical results and preventing false alarms. The effort will be completed in the spring of 1999.

1998 Annual Report SwRI Home