Columbia Analytical presented a technical paper entitled “Comparison of Naphthalene Ambient Air Sampling & Analysis Methods at Former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) Remediation Sites” during the Air Monitoring Technical Session at the MGP USA 2008: Third International Symposium and Exhibition on the Redevelopment of Manufactured Gas Plant Sites, September 23-25, 2008, in Mystic, CT.

MGP USA 2008 is the third international symposium in an on-going series, initiated in 1995, focusing on how the remediation and redevelopment of MGP sites is taking place today. The presentation was delivered by Ms. Alyson Fortune, an Air Quality Scientist with Columbia Analytical Services, with the paper co-authored by Leo Gendron, Senior Program Manager at ENSR in Westford, MA.

The paper included real world data from 105 co-located EPA TO-15 and EPA TO-13A samples; findings showed that the EPA TO-15 method consistently yielded higher concentrations of naphthalene than EPA TO-13A. “The findings in this paper are consistent with what our lab has seen anecdotally for 20 years”, Fortune said.

Read the Naphthalene Ambient Air Sampling abstract…

For those interested in the measurement of naphthalene in ambient air, please contact Columbia Analytical at 805-526-7161.

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.