EPA Seeks Portable Anthrax Aerosolizer

A--Development of System for Dry Inoculation of Building
Material Coupons

* Synopsis - Posted on Mar 16, 2006

General Information

Document Type:  Sources Sought Notice
Solicitation Number: PR-CI-06-10372
Posted Date:  Mar 01, 2006
Original Response Date: Mar 10, 2006
Current Response Date: Mar 10, 2006
Original Archive Date: Apr 09, 2006
Current Archive Date: Apr 09, 2006
Classification Code: A -- Research & Development
Set Aside:  N/A

Contracting Office Address
Cincinnati Procurement Operations Division 26 W. Martin Luther
King Drive Cincinnati, OH 45268

Description
The U.S. EPA hereby issues this Sources Sought synopsis in
search of any vendor capable to complete a project entitled
?Development of a system for dry inoculation of building
material coupons. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS. This
request for information does not commit the Government to pay
any cost incurred in preparation of any submission to this
Sources Sought Notice or to a contract for services. This is
a market survey for written information only, to ascertain
whether the services contemplated for this procurement can
be set aside for small business concerns. The North American
Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) is 541710, the
size standard of which is 500 employees.

The U.S. EPA?s National Homeland Security Research Center
(NHSRC) is currently investigating various decontamination
technologies for high value building materials contaminated
with Bacillus anthracis.  Current on-going studies inoculate
building material coupons using a syringe (liquid droplets).
However, the likely dissemination method for B. anthracis is
aerosol dispersion, thus building materials will be
contaminated by dry deposition. Liquid inoculation may yield
non-comparable decontamination efficacy results to actual
event decontamination efforts for porous materials such as
cinder block and wood.  A system for the dry inoculation of
building material coupons is needed to ensure comparable
efficacy results during decontamination efforts. In response
to the need for reproducibly dosing building material
coupons with dry B. anthracis, the U.S. EPA/NHSRC's
Decontamination and Consequence Management Division (DCMD)
is seeking to develop an aerosol deposition system for use
in the systematic decontamination studies.  The system shall
be able to reproducibly (within 20%) dose coupons with user
defined spore loadings in the range of 102 - 108 spores per
coupon (7 cm2).  The terminal velocities of these spores
shall mimic those expected in an anthrax release.  The
system shall be applicable to all building materials of
interest, specifically: painted and unpainted cinder block,
stainless steel ductwork, industrial carpet, decorative
laminate, ceiling tile, painted wallboard, and glass.  The
system shall be able to dose at least twenty-five 20 mm x
35 mm coupons during a single deposition and the coupons
shall be easy to remove, ensuring minimal disruption of
the deposited particulate matter.  As the B. anthracis
innoculant is limited in availability, the deposition
process must be efficient so as to conserve inocculant.
The deposition system shall be entirely contained to
prevent environmental interference and contamination.
The system shall be both portable and autoclavable.
The performance of the aerosol deposition system shall
be evaluated with a suitable surrogate for B. anthracis
that is 1-3 ?m in diameter.  Uniformity of the aerosol
deposition and reproducibility of coupon dosing shall be
determined using Scanning Electron Microscopy or another
comparable technology.  The ability for the system to
deliver the needed concentrations of the spores to the
building material coupons will be accessed here at the
EPA and if the aerosol delivery system is unable to meet
the specifications listed in the statement of work then
the system shall be modified until it fulfills these
requirements.  Interested parties shall submit capability
statements that demonstrate their experience in this field.
Capability statements shall not exceed 3 pages and standard
company brochures will not be reviewed. Reference
PR-CI-06-10372. Again, this statement is for information
purposes only.  Interested parties shall submit their
capability statement to the Contracting Officer via email
at bowers.joshua@epa.gov no later than 5:00 PM Eastern
Time, Friday, March 10, 2006.
Point of Contact
JOSHUA M. BOWERS, Placement Contracting Officer,
Phone: 513-487-2104, E-Mail: bowers.joshua@epa.gov
Email your questions to JOSHUA M. BOWERS at
bowers.joshua@epa.gov
Additional Information
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Sunshine Project 2006 IBC Survey

The Sunshine Project
Information Pointer - 20 March 2006
http://www.sunshine-project.org

The Sunshine Project has begun a major study of US Institutional
Biosafety Committees (IBCs). The survey focuses on how IBCs are
adapting to new roles brought about by the dramatic expansion of
research on biological weapons agents in the United States. A
webpage for the survey has been established where updates will
be posted as it progresses.

The initial survey group consists of 444 IBCs registered with the
National Institutes of Health Office of Biotechnology Activities,
including committees at corporations, institutes, universities,
and government labs.

As of 20 March 2006, 436 IBCs have received the survey letter.
A reply to the survey is required by the NIH Guidelines on
Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules at Section
IV-B-2-a(7), which stipulates that IBC minutes shall be made
available to the public upon request.

The survey seeks to assess compliance with the NIH Guidelines
and how IBCs are going about addressing issues raised by the
dramatic expansion of biodefense research, particularly studies
involving biological weapons agents (select agents).

Replies are requested by 28 April 2006, giving institutions
approximately six weeks to pull together a response.  While the
Sunshine Project hopes to avoid doing so, it will lodge a formal
complaint with the US National Institutes of Health against any
IBC that fails to reply to the survey.

In 2004, the Sunshine Project conducted its first survey of
Instituional Biosafety Committees. The report of that survey can
be downloaded at the Sunshine Project website. Although the 2006
survey will reprise some features of the first, the current survey
will has a significantly different focus and rely on additional
sources.

A list of the institutions that have been surveyed can be found
at the link below. As the survey progresses, updates will be
posted there:

http://www.sunshine-project.org/ibc

Surveyed institutions with questions about the survey should
visit the URL above for more information and contact details.