Laboratory Terms C

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

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Cadmium Cd: A heavy metal that accumulates in the environment.
Cancellation: Refers to Section 6 (b) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide...
Cap: A layer of clay, or other impermeable material installed over the top of a cl...
Capacity Assurance Plan: A statewide plan which supports a state's ability to manage the hazardous was...
Capillary Action: Movement of water through very small spaces due to molecular forces called ca...
Capillary Fringe: The zone above he water table within which the porous medium is saturated by ...
Capture Efficiency: The fraction of organic vapors generated by a process that are directed to an...
Carbon Absorber: An add-on control device that uses activated carbon to absorb volatile organi...
Carbon Adsorption: A treatment system that removes contaminants from ground water or surface wat...
Carbon Monoxide CO: A colorless, odorless, poisonous gas produced by incomplete fossil fuel combu...
Carbon Tetrachloride CC14: Compound consisting of one carbon atom ad four chlorine atoms, once widely us...
Carboxyhemoglobin: Hemoglobin in which the iron is bound to carbon monoxide(CO) instead of oxygen.
Carcinogen: Any substance that can cause or aggravate cancer.
Carrier: 1.The inert liquid or solid material in a pesticide product that serves as a ...
Carrying Capacity: 1. In recreation management, the amount of use a recreation area can sustain ...
CAS Registration Number: A number assigned by the Chemical Abstract Service to identify a chemical.
Case Study: A brief fact sheet providing risk, cost, and performance information on alter...
Cask: A thick-walled container (usually lead) used to transport radioactive materia...
Catalyst: A substance that changes the speed or yield of a chemical reaction without be...
Catalytic Converter: An air pollution abatement device that removes pollutants from motor vehicle ...
Catalytic Incinerator: A control device that oxidizes volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by using a c...
Categorical Exclusion: A class of actions which either individually or cumulatively would not have a...
Categorical Pretreatment Standard: A technology-based effluent limitation for an industrial facility discharging...
Cathodic Protection: A technique to prevent corrosion of a metal surface by making it the cathode ...
Cavitation: The formation and collapse of gas pockets or bubbles on the blade of an impel...
Cells: 1. In solid waste disposal, holes where waste is dumped, compacted, and cover...
Cementitious: Densely packed and nonfibrous friable materials.
Central Collection Point: Location were a generator of regulated medical waste consolidates wastes orig...
Centrifugal Collector: A mechanical system using centrifugal force to remove aerosols from a gas str...
CERCLIS: The federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability...
Channelization: Straightening and deepening streams so water will move faster, a marsh-draina...
Characteristic: Any one of the four categories used in defining hazardous waste
Characterization of Ecological Effects: Part of ecological risk assessment that evaluates ability of a stressor to ca...
Characterization of Exposure: Portion of an ecological risk assessment that evaluates interaction of a stre...
Check-Valve Tubing Pump: Water sampling tool also referred to as a water Pump.
Chemical Case: For purposes of review and regulation, the grouping of chemically similar pes...
Chemical Compound: A distinct and pure substance formed by the union or two or more elements in ...
Chemical Element: A fundamental substance comprising one kind of atom; the simplest form of mat...
Chemical Oxygen Demand COD: A measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds, both organic and i...
Chemical Stressors: Chemicals released to the environment through industrial waste, auto emission...
Chemical Treatment: Any one of a variety of technologies that use chemicals or a variety of chemi...
Chemnet: Mutual aid network of chemical shippers and contractors that assigns a contra...
Chemosterilant: A chemical that controls pests by preventing reproduction.
Chemtrec: The industry-sponsored Chemical Transportation Emergency Center; provides inf...
Child Resistant Packaging CRP: Packaging that protects children or adults from injury or illness resulting f...
Chiller: A device that generates a cold liquid that is circulated through an air-handl...
Chilling Effect: The lowering of the Earth's temperature because of increased particles in the...
Chinese Drywall: The term Chinese drywall refers to drywall manufactured in China and imported...
Chisel Plowing: Preparing croplands by using a special implement that avoids complete inversi...
Chlorinated Hydrocarbons: 1. Chemicals containing only chlorine, carbon, and hydrogen. These include a ...
Chlorinated Solvent: An organic solvent containing chlorine atoms(e.g. methylene chloride and 1,1,...
Chlorination: The application of chlorine to drinking water, sewage, or industrial waste to...
Chlorinator: A device that adds chlorine, in gas or liquid form, to water or sewage to kil...
Chlorine-Contact Chamber: That part of a water treatment plant where effluent is disinfected by chlorine.
Chlorofluorocarbons CFCs: A family of inert, nontoxic, and easily liquefied chemicals used in refrigera...
Chlorophenoxy: A class of herbicides that may be found in domestic water supplies and cause ...
Chlorosis: Discoloration of normally green plant parts caused by disease, lack of nutrie...
CHNOS: Stands for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur.
Cholinesterase: An enzyme found in animals that regulates nerve impulses by the inhibition of...
Chronic Effect: An adverse effect on a human or animal in which symptoms recur frequently or ...
Chronic Exposure: Multiple exposures occurring over an extended period of time or over a signif...
Chronic Toxicity: The capacity of a substance to cause long-term poisonous health effects in hu...
Circle of Influence: The circular outer edge of a depression produced in the water table by the pu...
Cistern: Small tank or storage facility used to store water for a home or farm; often ...
Clarification: Clearing action that occurs during wastewater treatment when solids settle ou...
Clarifier: A tank in which solids settle to the bottom and are subsequently removed as s...
Class I Area: Under the Clean Air Act. a Class I area is one in which visibility is protect...
Class I Substance: One of several groups of chemicals with an ozone depletion potential of 0.2 o...
Class II Substance: A substance with an ozone depletion potential of less than 0.2. All HCFCs are...
Clay Soil: Soil material containing more than 40 percent clay, less than 45 percent sand...
Clean Coal Technology: Any technology not in widespread use prior to the Clean Air Act Amendments of...
Clean Fuels: Blends or substitutes for gasoline fuels, including compressed natural gas, m...
Cleaner Technologies Substitutes Assessment: A document that systematically evaluates the relative risk, performance, and ...
Cleanup: Actions taken to deal with a release or threat of release of a hazardous subs...
Clear Cut: Harvesting all the trees in one area at one time, a practice that can encoura...
Clear Well: A reservoir for storing filtered water of sufficient quantity to prevent the ...
Climate Change: The term 'climate change' is sometimes used to refer to all forms of climatic...
Cloning: In biotechnology, obtaining a group of genetically identical cells from a sin...
Closed-Loop Recycling: Reclaiming or reusing wastewater for non-potable purposes in an enclosed proc...
Closure: The procedure a landfill operator must follow when a landfill reaches its leg...
Co-fire: Burning of two fuels in the same combustion unit; e.g., coal and natural gas,...
Coagulation: Clumping of particles in wastewater to settle out impurities, often induced b...
Coal Cleaning Technology: A precombustion process by which coal is physically or chemically treated to ...
Coal Gasification: Conversion of coal to a gaseous product by one of several available technolog...
Coastal Zone: Lands and waters adjacent to the coast that exert an influence on the uses of...
Code of Federal Regulations CFR: Document that codifies all rules of the executive departments and agencies of...
Coefficient of Haze COH: A measurement of visibility interference in the atmosphere.
Cogeneration: The consecutive generation of useful thermal and electric energy from the sam...
Coke Oven: An industrial process which converts coal into coke, one of the basic materia...
Cold Temperature CO: A standard for automobile emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) emissions to be m...
Coliform Index: A rating of the purity of water based on a count of fecal bacteria.
Coliform Organism: Microorganisms found in the intestinal tract of humans and animals. Their pre...
Collector: Public or private hauler that collects nonhazardous waste and recyclable mate...
Collector Sewers: Pipes used to collect and carry wastewater from individual sources to an inte...
Colloids: Very small, finely divided solids (that do not dissolve) that remain disperse...
Combined Sewer Overflows: Discharge of a mixture of storm water and domestic waste when the flow capaci...
Combined Sewers: A sewer system that carries both sewage and storm-water runoff. Normally, its...
Combustion: 1. Burning, or rapid oxidation, accompanied by release of energy in the form ...
Combustion Chamber: The actual compartment where waste is burned in an incinerator.
Combustion Product: Substance produced during the burning or oxidation of a material.
Command Post: Facility located at a safe distance upwind from an accident site, where the o...
Command-and-Control Regulations: Specific requirements prescribing how to comply with specific standards defin...
Comment Period: Time provided for the public to review and comment on a proposed EPA action o...
Commercial Waste: All solid waste emanating from business establishments such as stores, market...
Commercial Waste Management Facility: A treatment, storage, disposal, or transfer facility which accepts waste from...
Commingled Recyclables: Mixed recyclables that are collected together.
Comminuter: A machine that shreds or pulverizes solids to make waste treatment easier.
Comminution: Mechanical shredding or pulverizing of waste. Used in both solid waste manage...
Common Sense Initiative: Voluntary program to simplify environmental regulation to achieve cleaner, ch...
Community: In ecology, an assemblage of populations of different species within a specif...
Community Relations: The EPA effort to establish two-way communication with the public to create u...
Community Water System: A public water system which serves at least 15 service connections used by ye...
Compact Fluorescent Lamp CFL: Small fluorescent lamps used as more efficient alternatives to incandescent l...
Compaction: Reduction of the bulk of solid waste by rolling and tamping.
Comparative Risk Assessment: Process that generally uses the judgement of experts to predict effects and s...
Complete Treatment: A method of treating water that consists of the addition of coagulant chemica...
Compliance Coal: Any coal that emits less than 1.2 pounds of sulfur dioxide per million Btu wh...
Compliance Coating: A coating whose volatile organic compound content does not exceed that allowe...
Compliance Cycle: The 9-year calendar year cycle, beginning January 1, 1993, during which publi...
Compliance Monitoring: Collection and evaluation of data, including self-monitoring reports, and ver...
Compliance Schedule: A negotiated agreement between a pollution source and a government agency tha...
Composite Sample: A series of water samples taken over a given period of time and weighted by f...
Compost: A humus or soil-like material created from aerobic, microbial decomposition o...
Composting: The controlled biological decomposition of organic material in the presence o...
Composting Facilities: 1. An offsite facility where the organic component of municipal solid waste i...
Compressed Natural Gas CNG: An alternative fuel for motor vehicles; considered one of the cleanest becaus...
Concentration: The relative amount of a substance mixed with another substance. An example i...
Condensate: 1.Liquid formed when warm landfill gas cools as it travels through a collecti...
Condensate Return System: System that returns the heated water condensing within steam piping to the bo...
Conditional Registration: Under special circumstances, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodentic...
Conditionally Exempt Generators CE: Persons or enterprises which produce less than 220 pounds of hazardous waste ...
Conductance: A rapid method of estimating the dissolved solids content of water supply by ...
Conductivity: A measure of the ability of a solution to carry an electrical current.
Cone of Depression: A depression in the water table that develops around a pumped well.
Cone of Influence: The depression, roughly conical in shape, produced in a water table by the pu...
Cone Penterometer Testing CPT: A direct push system used to measure lithology based on soil penetration resi...
Confidential Business Information CBI: Material that contains trade secrets or commercial or financial information t...
Confidential Statement of Formula CSF: A list of the ingredients in a new pesticide or chemical formulation. The lis...
Confined Aquifer: An aquifer in which ground water is confined under pressure which is signific...
Confluent Growth: A continuous bacterial growth covering all or part of the filtration area of ...
Consent Decree: A legal document, approved by a judge, that formalizes an agreement reached b...
Conservation: Preserving and renewing, when possible, human and natural resources. The use,...
Conservation Easement: Easement restricting a landowner to land uses that that are compatible with l...
Constituent of Concern: Specific chemicals that are identified for evaluation in the site assessment ...
Construction and Demolition Waste: Waste building materials, dredging materials, tree stumps, and rubble resulti...
Construction Ban: If, under the Clean Air Act, EPA disapproves an area's planning requirements ...
Consumptive Water Use: Water removed from available supplies without return to a water resources sys...
Contact Pesticide: A chemical that kills pests when it touches them, instead of by ingestion. Al...
Contaminant: Any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter that ...
Contamination: Introduction into water, air, and soil of microorganisms, chemicals, toxic su...
Contamination Source Inventory: An inventory of contaminant sources within delineated State Water-Protection ...
Contingency Plan: A document setting out an organized, planned, and coordinated course of actio...
Continuous Discharge: A routine release to the environment that occurs without interruption, except...
Continuous Sample: A flow of water, waste or other material from a particular place in a plant t...
Contour Plowing: Soil tilling method that follows the shape of the land to discourage erosion.
Contour Strip Farming: A kind of contour farming in which row crops are planted in strips, between a...
Contract Labs: Laboratories under contract to EPA, which analyze samples taken from waste, s...
Control Technique Guidelines: EPA documents designed to assist state and local pollution authorities to ach...
Controlled Reaction: A chemical reaction under temperature and pressure conditions maintained with...
Conventional Pollutants: Statutorily listed pollutants understood well by scientists. These may be in ...
Conventional Site Assessment: Assessment in which most of the sample analysis and interpretation of data is...
Conventional Systems: Systems that have been traditionally used to collect municipal wastewater in ...
Conventional Tilling: Tillage operations considered standard for a specific location and crop and t...
Conveyance Loss: Water loss in pipes, channels, conduits, ditches by leakage or evaporation.
Cooling Electricity Use: Amount of electricity used to meet the building cooling load.
Cooling Tower: A structure that helps remove heat from water used as a coolant; e.g., in ele...
Cooperative Agreement: An assistance agreement whereby EPA transfers money, property, services or an...
Core: The uranium-containing heart of a nuclear reactor, where energy is released.
Core Program Cooperative Agreement: An assistance agreement whereby EPA supports states or tribal governments wit...
Corrective Action: EPA can require treatment, storage and disposal (TSDF) facilities handling ha...
Corrosion: The dissolution and wearing away of metal caused by a chemical reaction such ...
Corrosive: A chemical agent that reacts with the surface of a material causing it to det...
Cost Recovery: A legal process by which potentially responsible parties who contributed to c...
Cost Sharing: A publicly financed program through which society, as a beneficiary of enviro...
Cost-Benefit Analysis: A quantitative evaluation of the costs which would have incurred by implement...
Cost-Effective Alternative: An alternative control or corrective method identified after analysis as bein...
Cover Crop: A crop that provides temporary protection for delicate seedlings and/or provi...
Cover Material: Soil used to cover compacted solid waste in a sanitary landfill.
Cradle-to-Grave or Manifest System: A procedure in which hazardous materials are identified and followed as they ...
Criteria: Descriptive factors taken into account by EPA in setting standards for variou...
Criteria Pollutants: The 1970 amendments to the Clean Air Act required EPA to set National Ambient...
Critical Effect: The first adverse effect, or its known precursor, that occurs as a dose rate ...
Crop Consumptive Use: The amount of water transpired during plant growth plus what evaporated from ...
Crop Rotation: Planting a succession of different crops on the same land rea as opposed to p...
Cross Contamination: The movement of underground contaminants from one level or area to another du...
Cross-Connection: Any actual or potential connection between a drinking water system and an una...
Crumb Rubber: Ground rubber fragments the size of sand or silt used in rubber or plastic pr...
Cryptosporidium: A protozoan microbe associated with the disease cryptosporidiosis in man. The...
Cubic Feet Per Minute CFM: A measure of the volume of a substance flowing through air within a fixed per...
Cullet: Crushed glass.
Cultural Eutrophication: Increasing rate at which water bodies "die" by pollution from human activities.
Cultures and Stocks: Infectious agents and associated biologicals including cultures from medical ...
Cumulative Ecological Risk Assessment: Consideration of the total ecological risk from multiple stressors to a given...
Cumulative Exposure: The sum of exposures of an organism to a pollutant over a period of time.
Cumulative Working Level Months CWLM: The sum of lifetime exposure to radon working levels expressed in total worki...
Curb Stop: A water service shutoff valve located in a water service pipe near the curb a...
Curbside Collection: Method of collecting recyclable materials at homes, community districts or bu...
Cutie-Pie: An instrument used to measure radiation levels.
Cuttings: Spoils left by conventional drilling with hollow stem auger or rotary drillin...
Cyclone Collector: A device that uses centrifugal force to remove large particles from polluted ...

Analytical testing dots

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