Volume 1, Number 8 August 2004 

Newsletter of U.S. EPA’s Safe Buildings Monitoring 

and Detection Technology Verification Program 

What is ETV? 

The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) established the 

Environmental Technology 

Verification (ETV) Program in 1995 

to verify the performance of 

innovative technical solutions to

problems that threaten human health 

or the environment. 

ETV’s mission is to accelerate the 

use of new environmental 

technologies in the domestic and 

international marketplace. 

ETV provides third-party, qualityassured performance data so buyers 

and users of environmental 

technologies can make informed

purchase and application decisions.

ETV works through public/private 

testing partnerships (called Centers)

to evaluate the performance of

environmental technologies. 

The program 

The Safe Buildings Monitoring 

and Detection Technology Verification Program is part of the U.S. 

EPA’s National Homeland 

Security Research Center 

(NHSRC). The program operates 

under the auspices of ETV to 

verify technologies that monitor 

and detect chemical and 

biological contaminants in 

buildings and public places. 

The Safe Buildings Monitoring 

and Detection Technology 

Verification Program develops 

test plans and protocols, conducts 

verification tests, and reports the 

technologies’ performance. 

For further information, contact 

Helen Latham at Battelle, 505 

King Ave., Columbus, OH 

43201-2693; phone 614-424-

4062; fax 614-424-5601; or e-mail 

lathamh@battelle.org.

Safe Buildings Program 

Described at Conferences 

Presentations about the progress of

the U.S. EPA’s Safe Buildings 

Monitoring and Detection

Technology Verification Program 

were provided to attendees at two 

technical conferences in May and 

June. Two additional presentations 

are scheduled at conferences in 

September and November. The 

four host organizations and dates 

of the presentations are: 

3⁄4 The 20th Annual National 

Defense Industry Association 

(NDIA) Symposium and 

Exhibition, May 26-27, in 

Arlington, VA. 

3⁄4 The Air & Waste Management 

Association’s 97th Annual 

Conference and Exhibition, June 

22-25, in Indianapolis, IN 

3⁄4 The Oak Ridge National 

Laboratory’s Conference on 

Detector/Sensor Research and 

Technology for Homeland and 

National Security, September 14-

16, Gatlinburg, TN, and 

3⁄4 The 2004 Scientific 

Conference on Chemical and 

Biological Defense Research, 

November 15-18, Hunt Valley, 

MD. 

The purpose of presenting at these 

conferences is to provide 

background information about the 

Safe Buildings Program. The 

(See Conferences on Page 2)

The first to complete verification 

testing was Bruker Daltonics’ RAID-M 

IMS technology (below). 

The HAZMATCAD Plus Instrument 

(left) will soon complete its test. 
Conferences (from Page 1)

presentations describe the types of 

detection technologies being 

tested, illustrate the test methods, 

and describe the completed 

performance test reports posted 

on the ETV Web site 

(http://www.epa.gov/etv). 

The U.S. EPA’s National 

Homeland Security Research 

Center (NHSRC) in Cincinnati, 

OH, has three main research areas: 

Safe Buildings, Drinking Water 

Protection, and Rapid Risk 

Assessment. The Safe Buildings 

Program is applying the U.S. 

EPA’s Environmental Technology 

Verification (ETV) Program’s 

performance testing process to 

these homeland security 

technologies. 

The priorities for testing the 

various detection technologies are 

determined by the needs of 

first/emergency responders. 

Selections of the technologies to 

be tested are made by members of 

September 

14-16 ORNL Conference on 

Detector/Sensor Research and 

Technology for Homeland and National 

Security, Gatlinburg, TN. 

21-22 New Hampshire Pollution 

Prevention/Homeland Security

Conference, Durham, NH. 

27-29 Joint DOJ-DHS Conference: 

Technologies for Public Safety in Critical 

Incident Response, New Orleans, LA. 

October 

3-4 Symposium on Building Security 

in an Age of Terrorism, Washington, DC. 

the volunteer stakeholder 

telle

Two types of tests of detection 

committees, U.S. EPA 

representatives, and Bat

scientists. 

technologies are conducted: with

toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), such

as hydrogen cyanide, chlorine, and 

phosgene, and chemical warfare agents

(CWA), including sarin and sulfur 

mustard. Realistic interference 

effects—such as cold- and hotstart conditions and battery life—

are also evaluated in each test. 

The first detection technology to 

5-6 Bay Area 2nd Annual Pacific 

Security Expo, Oakland, CA. 

13-14 Securing New Ground, Annual 

Security Conference 2004, New York, 

NY. 

13-15 Worldwide Chemical 

Conference XXI, Ft. Leonard Wood, 

MO. 

November 

8-9 ASIS International Bioterrorism

Conference, Washington, DC. 

15-18 2004 Scientific Conference on

Chemical and Geological Defense 

Research, Hunt Valley, MD. 

22-23 4th Global Homeland Security

Conference & Expo, Crystal City, VA. 

ime,

e

-

,

complete verification testing was 

the Bruker Daltonics’ RAID-M 

ion mobility spectrometer (IMS).

The test evaluated response times,

accuracy of TIC/CWA 

identification, response t

temperature and humidity, fals

negatives and positives, and cold

start results. 

Testing is nearly complete on the 

HAZMATCAD Plus instruments 

from Microsensor Systems, Inc., 

and is in progress on the M90 

portable IMS chemical agent 

detector from Environics USA

Inc. 

The two RAID-M IMS technologies, pictured in a glove box, were tested for 

detection of toxic industrial chemicals and chemical warfare agents under 

conditions representing the needs of first responders.

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