Award Data

Lead in household paint and dust is a serious health hazard, as low-level lead exposure can result in a number of adverse health effects, especially in children. Onsite and real-time detection and quantification of lead in paint/dust are very important to homeowners and certified lead-based paint removal professionals. Toward this end, both field-portable equipment (such as X-ray fluorescenc ...

Picarro, Inc., will build a trace gas sensor based on cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) targeting the acrolein absorption band at 1623 nm for environmental monitoring. Acrolein is a ubiquitous airborne pollutant. Its sources include burning vegetation (e.g., forest fires), waste incinerators, furnaces, fireplace, gasoline- and diesel-engine emissions, power plants, polyethylene ...

Acrolein has been identified by the U.S. Clean Air Act as a hazardous air pollutant because of its adverse health effect, particularly on respiratory systems. There are both anthropogenic and natural sources of acrolein in the environment. Acrolein is produced by combustion sources (e.g., vehicle exhaust, prescribed agricultural burning, cigarette smoke) and industrial sources, i ...

The goal of this Phase I project is to develop a new “Sparker” process for treating organic hazardous contaminants in water and liquid waste, including persistent and bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBTs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Sparker technology also has potential for in situ treatment of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) and sludge. Sparkers a ...

The sensitivity of low-cost, portable volatile organic compound (VOC) detectors currently in use is low, which limits their application in many situations. More sensitive detectors are more expensive and less robust and not suitable for field use. This Phase I project involves the development of a membrane-based preconcentrator able to concentrate trace amounts of VOC contaminants to levels that ...

Landfills and waterways are inundated with tons of nondegradable plastics derived from petrochemicals. An unusual polysaccharide has been identified that can be extruded as a biodegradable plastic. Unique properties allow it to replace certain petroleum-based plastics at the same price as other bioplastics. To gain quick acceptance, details of the process developed during the Phase I project will ...

Mercury is a toxic, volatile metal that is used in electrical switches, relays, and motion detectors because of its electrical conductivity, low volatility, and fluid properties over a large temperature range. Mercury is released into the atmosphere during incineration of trash containing discarded electrical switches, relays, and motion detectors and rapidly migrates to the aquatic environme ...

This Phase I SBIR project addresses environmental problems associated with indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy consumption in residential buildings. As building envelopes increasingly become tight to satisfy energy efficiency requirements, health conditions that are correlated with IAQ, such as asthma and allergic diseases, are on the rise. The most effective strategy to improve IAQ is ventilation ...

TIAX previously has evaluated the efficacy of polymeric materials in the removal of chemical and biological agents from surfaces. The system previously evaluated showed better than a two-log removal of simulants for both chemical and biological agents. TIAX is proposing under this Phase I SBIR project to broaden significantly the scope of the technology through application of proprietary syste ...

This Phase I SBIR project will support the development of a field-portable instrument for monitoring and controlling hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration during building decontamination after accidental or purposeful exposure to hazardous biological materials. The goal of Phases I through III is to develop a product that enables accurate real-time H2O2 measurements over the concentration range o ...