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Mobile Environmental Laboratories
Lance Frazer Abstract
A new approach to assessing hazardous contamination involves sending the lab to the sample, rather than the other way around. In Germany, Environmental Analysis Vans (EAVs) are making the rounds among contaminated sites, while the United States has created its own mobile lab system, the Field Integrated Environmental Assessment Laboratories.
The EAV, first built in 1992, allows researchers to collect and analyze samples of contaminated materials. Researchers can measure concentrations of contaminants on-site, while less time-sensitive analyses can be relegated to off-site laboratories. The German EAV focuses primarily on indoor environmental agents, which are estimated to cause about 2% of all illnesses in Germany.
 In the United States, the focus is on outdoor contamination, specifically that of the estimated 400–800 hazardous waste sites and 700–1,000 wastewater plants produced and operated by the Department of Defense. In order to determine the nature, extent, and complexity of each site's contamination–and, thus, its cleanup cost–a complex of transportable laboratories was designed and built. The $2 million complex, consisting of three trailers that can be taken directly to each contaminated site, relies primarily on analysis of aquatic organisms. The body of knowledge about the test animals, as well as what is found on-site, is extrapolated into predictions of the potential impact of contaminants on human health.
The benefits of on-site analysis include shorter turnaround time for receiving results, diminished risk of accidentally spreading hazardous materials en route to an off-site laboratory, and a larger window of time in which samples can be analyzed before breaking down. In addition, field testing allows scientists to study the actual hazard rather than a facsimile or reproduction.
The mobile labs are intended to function as part of a biological monitoring network that could give a real-time assessment of national, or even international, environmental quality. By looking at contamination before and after remediation, such a system can help assess the efficacy of remediation efforts and suggest future strategies.
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