TestAmerica Breaks New Ground in Low Level Vapor Intrusion Testing

TestAmerica’s Product Manager for Ambient Air, Christopher Anderson, will present a new analytical method for air testing in the state of New Jersey. The presentation will be held at the 2008 National Environmental Monitoring Conference (NEMC) on August 15, 2008 in Washington, DC.

The New Jersey DEP Site Remediation Waste Management (SRWM) Program announced last year that they have developed criteria for a Low Level Volatile Organics Method for air sampling and analysis, which is designed to replace the conventional U.S. EPA Method TO-15 currently used in New Jersey. TestAmerica’s Burlington, Vermont laboratory is the first and only commercial laboratory to be certified by the state of New Jersey to perform this method.

The presentation will highlight significant changes to the quality assurance practices required, as well as detailing the analytical challenges presented by this new method. U.S. EPA Method TO-15 is a widely used analytical technique for the identification and quantification of a broad range of environmental air contaminants. Inherent to the method is a suite of quality control checks to ensure that the analytical system used will generate reliable and accurate data. As proposed by the New Jersey DEP, the new method not only bolsters the method quality control applications but also provides a foundation for supporting lower levels of detection for target analytes.

TestAmerica President and CEO, Rachel Brydon Jannetta had this to say about the new development. “It is always exciting to see our experts working closely with the agencies on the cutting edge of new approaches to environmental analysis. This year has been particularly exciting as we have seen similar cooperative advancements in the areas of Hexavalent Chromium analysis, bio-availability of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon compounds and the fundamental practice of deriving method detection limits. TestAmerica is proud to be the leader in these, as well as many other groundbreaking practices.”

Mr. Anderson has 17 years of experience in the environmental laboratory industry and is a specialist in the area of air sampling and analysis. In collaboration with Bryce Stearns, Technical Director, their contributions have been instrumental in assisting TestAmerica to become the nation’s first and only certified laboratory to perform the New Jersey DEP Low Level TO-15 method.

About TestAmerica

TestAmerica is the leading environmental testing firm in the United States, including 40 laboratories and 27 service centers. TestAmerica provides innovative technical expertise and comprehensive analytical testing services. Specialty analyses include source and ambient air, aquatic toxicity, explosives, specialty organics, dioxins, drinking water, sediments and tissues, emerging contaminants, radiochemistry and mixed waste testing.

TestAmerica affiliate companies include EMLab P&K, the leader in analytical microscopy and indoor air quality; QED Environmental Systems, Inc., the leading supplier of groundwater sampling equipment and remediation pumping systems; TestAmerica Drilling Corp., provider of innovative environmental and geotechnical drilling, and TestAmerica Air Emissions Corp. (METCO Environmental), specializing in air emissions testing. TestAmerica currently employs over 3,000 professionals dedicated to exceptional service and solutions for our clients’ environmental testing needs.

Contact Information

Bryce Stearns

Technical Director

TestAmerica

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