https://www.airforcemedicine.af.mil/News/Display/Article/3565602/air-force-global-strike-command-reports-initial-pcb-clean-up-results/
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Published Oct. 23, 2023
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --
Initial efforts to clean polychlorinated biphenyls from launch facilities at Malmstrom AFB are ongoing but seeing success, Air Force Global Strike Command announced today.
The clean-up effort was ordered by AFGSC commander Gen. Thomas Bussiere after PCBs were detected on surfaces in launch facilities at all three of the command’s missile wings during a survey by the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.
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Cleaning the PCBs is a difficult process that entails much more than a simple wipe-down, according to Col. Gregory Coleman, AFGSC Command Surgeon.
“PCBs are undetectable to human senses at the quantities we’re finding in these facilities,” Coleman said. “We know they’re present on what appear to be otherwise pristine surfaces due to the survey results, but the only way to know our cleaning process was a success is by retesting each surface and sending the samples away to the lab. Then we wait two weeks to see if the cleaning was a success.”
The cleaning teams also must be wary of spreading PCBs during the cleaning process, Col. Coleman said. Some cleaning methods risk dispersing the contaminants rather than removing them.
The successful cleaning came after bioenvironmental teams at Malmstrom AFB consulted with engineers and medical experts on the cleaning processes and agents most likely to effectively remove the chemicals in the unique environment presented by active launch facilities. After some experimentation, the team settled on a mineral oil wash followed by a solvent scrub, which successfully reduced PCB surface contaminants, in some cases to non-detectable levels.
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Comment: Deeper explanation of the difficulties in surface sampling and new guidance on same. Kudos to the Air Force team coming up with an effective PCB detection and clean-up procedure!
https://synergist.aiha.org/202310-niosh-surface-sampling
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Letting Surfaces Tell a Story
New Guidance from NIOSH on Surface Sampling
By Kendra Broadwater
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The NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM) includes chapters on specific areas of interest. Last year, the chapter “Surface Sampling Guidance, Considerations, and Methods in Occupational Hygiene” was added to NMAM. This chapter compiles available resources and provides additional guidance on surface sampling methods and strategies, drawing upon the history of surface sampling research at NIOSH, available consensus standards, and regulatory requirements for surface sampling and the research underpinning them.
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SURFACE SAMPLING CHALLENGES
Surface sampling campaigns can have many different objectives and target agents. For this reason, it’s unlikely that a single overarching resource can aid in the development of surface sampling plans for all scenarios. But some considerations apply to all surface sampling campaigns, and certain decisions need to be made and documented before samples are taken and the resulting data interpreted. The new NMAM chapter outlines these basic considerations and brings together the myriad resources available on sampling methods for individual agents or classes of agents.
The New Chapter in the Manual:
NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM), 5th Edition,
Surface Sampling Guidance, Considerations, and Methods in Occupational Hygiene
Letting Surfaces Tell a Story
New Guidance from NIOSH on Surface Sampling
