Laboratory Terms

A glossary of science, chemistry, environmental and laboratory terms.

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Back Pressure: A pressure that can cause water to backflow into the water supply when a user...
Backflow: A reverse flow condition created by a difference in water pressures that caus...
Background Level: 1. The concentration of a substance in an environmental media (air, water, or...
Backwashing: Reversing the flow of water back through the filter media to remove entrapped...
Backyard Composting: Diversion of organic food waste and yard trimmings from the municipal waste s...
BACT Best Available Control Technology: An emission limitation based on the maximum degree of emission reduction (con...
Bactericide: A pesticide used to control or destroy bacteria, typically in the home, schoo...
Baffle: A flat board or plate, deflector, guide, or similar device constructed or pla...
Baffle Chamber: In incinerator design, a chamber designed to promote the settling of fly ash ...
Baghouse Filter: Large fabric bag, usually made of glass fibers, used to eliminate intermediat...
Bailer: A pipe with a valve at the lower end, used to remove slurry from the bottom o...
Baling: Compacting solid waste into blocks to reduce volume and simplify handling.
Ballistic Separator: A machine that sorts organic from inorganic matter for composting.
Band Application: The spreading of chemicals over, or next to, each row of plants in a field.
Banking: A system for recording qualified air emission reductions for later use in bub...
Bar Screen: In wastewater treatment, a device used to remove large solids.
Barrel Sampler: Open-ended steel tube used to collect soil samples.
Barrier Coating: A layer of a material that obstructs or prevents passage of something through...
Basal Application: In pesticides, the application of a chemical on plant stems or tree trunks ju...
Basalt: Consistent year-round energy use of a facility; also refers to the minimum am...
Bean Sheet: Common term for a pesticide data package record.
Bed Load: Sediment particles resting on or near the channel bottom that are pushed or r...
BEN: EPA's computer model for analyzing a violator's economic gain from not comply...
Bench-scale Tests: Laboratory testing of potential cleanup technologies
Benefit-Cost Analysis: An economic method for assessing the benefits and costs of achieving alternat...
Benthic: An organism that feeds on the sediment at the bottom of a water body such as ...
Bentonite: A colloidal clay, expansible when moist, commonly used to provide a tight sea...
Beryllium: An metal hazardous to human health when inhaled as an airborne pollutant. It ...
Best Available Control Measures BACM: A term used to refer to the most effective measures (according to EPA guidanc...
Best Available Control Technology BACT: For any specific source, the currently available technology producing the gre...
Best Available Control Technology BACT: The most stringent technology available for controlling emissions; major sour...
Best Demonstrated Available Technology BDAT: As identified by EPA, the most effective commercially available means of trea...
Best Management Practice BMP: Methods that have been determined to be the most effective, practical means o...
Bimetal: Beverage containers with steel bodies and aluminum tops; handled differently ...
Bioaccumulants: Substances that increase in concentration in living organisms as they take in...
Bioaccumulation: Bioaccumulation is a general term for the accumulation of substances, such as...
Bioassay: A test to determine te relative strength of a substance by comparing its effe...
Bioavailabiliity: Degree of ability to be absorbed and ready to interact in organism metabolism.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand BOD: A measure of the amount of oxygen consumed in the biological processes that b...
Bioconcentration: The accumulation of a chemical in tissues of a fish or other organism to leve...
Biodegradable: Capable of decomposing under natural conditions.
Biodiversity: Refers to the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecologic...
Biological Contaminants: Living organisms or derivates (e.g. viruses, bacteria, fungi, and mammal and ...
Biological Control: In pest control, the use of animals and organisms that eat or otherwise kill ...
Biological Integrity: The ability to support and maintain balanced, integrated, functionality in th...
Biological Magnification: Refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy ...
Biological Measurement: A measurement taken in a biological medium. For exposure assessment, it is re...
Biological Medium: One of the major component of an organism; e.g. blood, fatty tissue, lymph no...
Biological Oxidation: Decomposition of complex organic materials by microorganisms. Occurs in self-...
Biological Oxygen Demand BOD: An indirect measure of the concentration of biologically degradable material ...
Biological pesticides: Certain microorganism, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa that ...
Biological Stressors: Organisms accidentally or intentionally dropped into habitats in which they d...
Biological Treatment: A treatment technology that uses bacteria to consume organic waste.
Biologically Effective Dose: The amount of a deposited or absorbed compound reaching the cells or target s...
Biologicals: Vaccines, cultures and other preparations made from living organisms and thei...
Biomass: All of the living material in a given area; often refers to vegetation.
Biome: Entire community of living organisms in a single major ecological area.
Biomonitoring: 1. The use of living organisms to test the suitability of effluents for disch...
Bioremediation: Use of living organisms to clean up oil spills or remove other pollutants fro...
Biosensor: Analytical device comprising a biological recognition element (e.g. enzyme, r...
Biosphere: The portion of Earth and its atmosphere that can support life.
Biostabilizer: A machine that converts solid waste into compost by grinding and aeration.
Biota: The animal and plant life of a given region.
Biotechnology: Techniques that use living organisms or parts of organisms to produce a varie...
Biotic Community: A naturally occurring assemblage of plants and animals that live in the same ...
Biotransformation: Conversion of a substance into other compounds by organisms; includes biodegr...
Blackwater: Water that contains animal, human, or food waste.
Blood Products: Any product derived from human blood, including but not limited to blood plas...
Bloom: A proliferation of algae and/or higher aquatic plants in a body of water; oft...
BOD5: The amount of dissolved oxygen consumed in five days by biological processes ...
Body Burden: The amount of a chemical stored in the body at a given time, especially a pot...
Bog: A type of wetland that accumulates appreciable peat deposits. Bogs depend pri...
Boiler: A vessel designed to transfer heat produced by combustion or electric resista...
Boom: 1. A floating device used to contain oil on a body of water. 2. A piece of eq...
Borehole: Hole made with drilling equipment.
Botanical Pesticide: A pesticide whose active ingredient is a plant-produced chemical such as nico...
Bottle Bill: Proposed or enacted legislation which requires a returnable deposit on beer o...
Bottom Ash: The non-airborne combustion residue from burning pulverized coal in a boiler;...
Bottom Land Hardwoods: Forested freshwater wetlands adjacent to rivers in the southeastern United St...
Bounding Estimate: An estimate of exposure, dose, or risk that is higher than that incurred by t...
Brackish: Mixed fresh and salt water.
Breakpoint Chlorination: Addition of chlorine to water until the chlorine demand has been satisfied.
Breakthrough: A crack or break in a filter bed that allows the passage of floc or particula...
Breathing Zone: Area of air in which an organism inhales.
Brine Mud: Waste material, often associated with well-drilling or mining, composed of mi...
British Thermal Unit: Unit of heat energy equal to the amount of heat required to raise the tempera...
Broadcast Application: The spreading of pesticides over an entire area.
Brownfields: Abandoned, idled, or under used industrial and commercial facilities/sites wh...
Bubble: A system under which existing emissions sources can propose alternate means t...
Buffer: A solution or liquid whose chemical makeup is such that it minimizes changes ...
Buffer Strips: Strips of grass or other erosion-resisting vegetation between or below cultiv...
Building Cooling Load: The hourly amount of heat that must be removed from a building to maintain in...
Building Envelope: The exterior surface of a building's construction--the walls, windows, floors...
Building Related Illness: Diagnosable illness whose cause and symptoms can be directly attributed to a ...
Bulk Sample: A small portion (usually thumbnail size) of a suspect asbestos-containing bui...
Bulky Waste: Large items of waste materials, such as appliances, furniture, large auto par...
Burial Ground: A disposal site for radioactive waste materials that uses earth or water as a...
Buy-Back Center: Facility where individuals or groups bring reyclables in return for payment.
By-product: Material, other than the principal product, generated as a consequence of an ...

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