Absolute Resource

March, 2015

ARA President Susan Sylvester appointed

to Federal Environmental Committee

2015 started off with a bang for ARA's President and CFO. Sue Sylvester was nominated by US Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and later appointed by Penny Pritzker, US Secretary of Commerce, to the Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee (ETTAC), as a representative of the remediation segment of the US environmental technology sector.  The Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee was formed in 1994 to advise on the development of policies and programs which will help expand U.S. exports of environmental technologies, goods, and services.

"I am pleased to be appointed to the committee and lend my expertise," Sylvester said. "I welcome the opportunity to work with like-minded professionals to further the goals of the committee and create new opportunities for the environmental sector."

The Committee meets 3-4 times per year, usually in Washington, D.C. Sylvester's appointment is effective immediately and lasts through August 18, 2016.

ARA: Not "Just a Lab"

Since we opened our doors in 2000, we have expanded not only in staffing and facility size, but also in the services we offer, as we meet the ever changing needs of our customers. ARA is not "just a lab" anymore; we are a full service environmental firm! We are still the perfect choice for your certified environmental laboratory needs, but lately we've realized that some of our long time lab customers didn't realize that we also offer Indoor Air Quality services as well as environmental project management. Be sure to browse our website and check out all that ARA has to offer. Mold? Asbestos? PCBs? Give us a call, we do it all!

ARA Takes the Lab on the Road!

Did You Know?  ARA is now offering on-site GC/MS analysis to clients throughout New England! GC/MS is a technique which combines separation by gas chromatography (GC), with the detection power of mass spectrometry (MS). This portable system allows us to provide our clients with fixed lab quality trace analysis of ambient air and soil vapor with results in less than 10 minutes!

As many of you know, it can be tricky and disruptive to test indoor air in occupied spaces.  It is in everyone’s best interest to get in and out as quickly as possible, with the most data possible.  The traditional approach of using SUMMA canisters has several disadvantages including analysis high cost, slow turn-around-time for results, and bulky sampling equipment. 

By contrast, using the GC/MS unit on site has many benefits: it is extremely portable, results are virtually real time, customers are given valuable information while our staff is still on-site, and sampling plans can be modified on the fly to target areas of concern and to quickly pinpoint source locations. 

ARA has taken a GC/MS on the road to help with TCE and related compound analysis. TCE (a.k.a. trichloroethylene, trichloroethene, trichlor), a non-flammable solvent historically used as a degreaser and dry-cleaning agent, is an environmental contaminant that can be found in water, soil and air. We won’t go too far into exposure pathways and  risk assessment beyond that there is a general concern for immune system effects and specific concerns for fetal cardiac development associated with TCE exposure from indoor air.

With this GC/MS, we are able to meet a 2µg/m³ detection limit for TCE in just 8 minutes at each location.  At the end of each day producing a table of results for more than 40 sample locations for TCE and related compounds, all with QC samples analyzed to verify and document accurate quantitation. The client was thrilled, and we are excited to be able to offer this service to our valued clients. Give us a call to learn more about this technology and how field GC/MS might work for your projects!

The Resource Rambler Newsletter is brought to you by your friends at Absolute Resource Associates. ©2015

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Absolute Resource Associates
124 Heritage Ave. Unit #16 Portsmouth, NH 03801

www.absoluteresourceassociates.com