Improved Wipes for Surface Sampling of Chemical Agents on Porous Materials

In this effort, TIAX LLC will evaluate the innovative combination of commercially available materials that will permit the efficient and reproducible extraction, collection, concentration, recovery and analysis of trace low volatility chemicals that may be present in porous surfaces such as concrete, brick, tile, or painted wallboard. This work builds upon the demonstrated ability of the materials to efficiently collect such compounds from solid surfaces and to permit their reproducible recovery for analysis. The development and evaluation of this enhanced surface wipe material and methodology will yield an approach to the sampling and analysis of surfaces that have been contaminated by low volatility, low water solubility organic compounds, such as toxic industrial chemicals or chemical warfare agents. After a chemical contamination event, the results obtained from this approach can be used for subsequent legal proceedings and also to verify cleanliness of porous surface materials after decontamination procedures have been applied. The identified wipe material and procedures will have wide commercial applicability to contamination evaluation and as such a wide market potential for use in environmental contamination scenarios. This Phase I effort will comprise a program to demonstrate and validate the proposed approach at a Technology Readiness Level of 4, "Component and or breadboard validation in a laboratory environment".