A Professional Development Course (PDC) entitled “Tools of the Trade — Vapor Intrusion Investigation for the Industrial Hygienist” was recently co-taught by Alyson Fortune of Columbia Analytical at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Exhibition (AIHce), May 31-June 5, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minn. The all day interactive training course was presented by Alyson Fortune, Bharti Ujjani, CIH and Peter Granholm, CIH, PG along with Helen Dawson, PhD. from USEPA Region Eight.

Ms. Fortune taught the air sampling, laboratory analysis, and data evaluation section of the PDC. This section compared and contrasted the available air sampling media options for vapor intrusion, described in detail the concept of using helium as a leak testing tracer for soil gas sampling, and showed an example of a typical air laboratory report, which pointed out key features consultants should examine when reviewing vapor intrusion data.

In its first year, the Vapor Intrusion PDC was sold out and ranked in the top 25% of all PDCs. AIHce is a premier annual event for thousands of practicing industrial hygiene and environmental health & safety professionals.

Ms. Fortune is an Air Quality Scientist with Columbia Analytical in Simi Valley, Calif.

KELSO, Wash. – Congressman Brian Baird, representing Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, recently toured the expansion of Columbia Analytical’s Kelso, Washington, laboratory facilities. The expansion doubled the size of the company’s Kelso operations.

As chairman of the Science and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Science Education, Rep. Baird was particularly interested in the innovative instrumentation used in the laboratory, such as the gas chromatograph triple quadrapole mass spectrometer (GC/MS/MS). With help from the Cowlitz Economic Development Council (CEDC), Columbia Analytical qualified for a deferral on Washington state sales tax, making it easier to attain the high-tech equipment.

“Because of his interest in science and technology, Rep. Baird enjoyed seeing how our laboratory has grown and how state government is helping spur economic growth in this area,” said Jeff Christian, Kelso Laboratory Director.

After touring the laboratory, Congressman Baird spent the afternoon with Columbia Analytical employees, answering questions about various current events taking place in the state and in the country. Founded in 1986, Columbia Analytical is an employee-owned national laboratory network, with operations in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Texas, and Washington. The company employs more than 200 people at its Kelso, Washington, headquarters.

For more information on Columbia Analytical, call 800-695-7222 or visit the website at www.caslab.com.

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Contact:
Dee O’Neill
360-577-7222

www.caslab.com

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Jeff Christian, Kelso Laboratory Director, discusses the GC/MS/MS instrument with Congressman Baird, Paul Brachvogel, Kelso City Manager, and Todd McDaniel, Kelso City Council.

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In response to their significant business growth in recent years, Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. announces the opening of their new 18,000 square foot laboratory facility in Jacksonville, FL.

Columbia Analytical provides high-quality, cost-effective and innovative chemical and biological analyses for potentially hazardous substances in air, water, sediments, tissues, solids, wastes and other matrices.

“Columbia Analytical Services’ Jacksonville operation has grown over 50% in the past three years, and our relocation to this new, custom-designed laboratory facility is in response to this growth and success. We are pleased to be a trendsetting analytical services provider here in Florida, and we will continue to grow and add new capabilities to meet the expectations and needs of our clients,” said laboratory director, Greg Jordan.

To celebrate the opening of this new laboratory, the company is planning an Open House event on the afternoon of June 20, 2008.

Founded in 1986 and a leader in the commercial laboratory industry, Columbia Analytical is employee owned, with over 300 people nationwide, with operations in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Texas, and Washington. For more information on Columbia Analytical’s capabilities, or their Open House, call 904-739-2277 or visit their website at www.caslab.com.

KELSO, Wash. – Columbia Analytical Services, Inc., one of the nation’s leading environmental testing laboratories, today unveiled its new corporate identity with a revised logo and redesigned website. The company’s website address is www.caslab.com.

“The new company logo was designed to freshen our look and reflect Columbia Analytical’s professional and technically-advanced capabilities,” said Ed Wilson, director of information technology and marketing. “Our marketing materials now position us as technical experts as we plan for an internet-focused and service-oriented future.”

The new website provides expanded information about environmental testing, pharmaceutical testing and a variety of other scientific topics featured in a new educational section. The educational content includes technical articles, industry acronyms, technical poster session brochures, a “clickable” periodic table, information on sample holding times and container types, and a free technical newsletter. An industry news page also allows users to post their questions and interact with the laboratory managers.

“One of the challenges of the website redesign was to effectively communicate technical information, but in a simple and visually-interesting manner,” said Trent Mueller, webmaster. “We accomplished this in part by providing concise information upfront while offering the option of clicking to read deeper into technical content. We also added many illustrative photos, charts, and examples to help keep the reader engaged.”

Columbia Analytical is an employee-owned, full-service environmental analytical network with seven laboratories in the United States. Services include testing of air, water, soil, sediment, tissues, pharmaceutical materials, and solid and hazardous waste.

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Contact:

Dee O’Neill
360-577-7222
www.caslab.com

Press Links:

View our Press Kit to download logos/images.

Learn more about the New Website.

A recent article in the journal Pediatrics has raised further questions about the presence of phthalates in the environment. They note that certain phthalates, found in numerous baby care products, may lead to developmental and reproductive toxicity in infants.

Phthalates are synthetic chemicals that are used to make vinyl products flexible and soft. They also make products like nail polish harder to chip and make fragrances last longer. They are found in many industrial and common household items, including PVC plastics, cosmetics, personal care products (including most lotions, shampoos and powders), plastic toys, vinyl products and almost all products with fragrance. Phthalates are also used in medical devices, and numerous items our homes and cars. Essentially, phthalates are everywhere.

Phthalate testing is problematic due to their wide spread use and background levels can lead to false positive results.  Therefore the laboratory must eliminate background sources of phthalates and ensure that quality control data supports that the analysis is free of these interferences. Although there are a number of analytical testing alternatives, the most common way for a laboratory to test for phthalates is using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer operated in selected ion monitoring mode (GC/MS/SIM). This GC/MS/SIM technique is currently being used by Columbia Analytical Services in similar studies investigating phthalates in medications, ambient air, and other applications related to human health risk. Columbia Analytical has performed analytical testing for phthalates for over 20 years.

For more information on testing for phthalates, contact Jeff Christian, Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. at 360-577-7222.

Chemical structure of butyl benzyl phthalate

Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. (CAS) is excited to announce the availability of an Air Petroleum Hydrocarbon (APH) method for indoor air, ambient air, sub-slab, and soil vapor analysis via a method by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP).

Originally written for application at Massachusetts hazardous waste cleanup sites, the APH method can be applied at any site nationwide where petroleum products are potentially impacting indoor or ambient air quality. This method was designed to complement and support the toxicological approach developed to evaluate human health hazards that may result from exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons.

In February 2000, MADEP published the first draft of the APH method (http://www.mass.gov/dep/Image/aphsop01.doc). This same draft document is still in use today. “CAS had the honor of being one of the four original laboratories to contribute to the study, and we continue to work closely with MADEP Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup Indoor Air Workgroup and the ASTM Vapor Intrusion Task Group,” stated Alyson Fortune, CAS’ Air Quality Scientist.

CAS is a certified, full service chemical and biological analytical laboratory that has successfully served clients in all 50 states and around the globe. The CAS network is comprised of eight laboratories in Arizona, California, Florida, New York, Texas and Washington. “Specifically, CAS Air Quality Laboratory, which has over 2000 canisters in our inventory and nearly 20 years experience, specializes in the analysis of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, sulfur compounds and other hazardous substances in a wide variety of air and vapor matrices,” said Fortune.

For more information about the MADEP APH method, please contact Alyson Fortune at (978) 501-2735, or call the CAS Air Quality Laboratory at (805) 526-7161.

Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. (CAS) announces progress on our major expansion program.

CAS is undergoing major changes as a result of its $15,000,000 growth initiatives. The Kelso, WA laboratory is close to completing the expansion of its facility with the addition of more than 20,000 square feet of laboratory space in support of its expanding pharmaceutical and specialty environmental work. The new addition scheduled for completion in February, 2007 doubles the existing laboratory space.

Our Simi Valley laboratory completed its relocation into its new 20,000 square feet laboratory in December of 2006. This move was in response to its expanding business in air toxics and to support the addition of some routine soil and water testing capability.

With the completion of this growth initiative which began in 2005 with the purchase of the Transwest Geochem, Inc., and Desert Analytics laboratories in Phoenix and Tucson as well as the expansion of HR/MS capacity at its Houston laboratory, CAS has been able to realign its California operations by folding its Redding laboratory services into our newly expanded Kelso, Simi Valley, and Phoenix laboratories.

Founded in 1986 and a leader in the commercial laboratory industry, the CAS laboratory network is employee owned, with over 400 people, and operations in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Texas, and Washington. CAS provides high-quality, cost-effective and innovative chemical and biological analyses for potentially hazardous substances in air, water, sediments, tissues, solids, wastes and other matrices.