National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) – Profiles

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) conducts research and evaluations towards protecting human health and the environment from the effects of biological, chemical, and radiological (CBR) contamination due to homeland security events.

NHSRC’s water security research focuses on developing tools and applications that can provide warnings to water utilities in the event of terrorist attacks with CBR weapons. Methods that help decontaminate water and wastewater infrastructure more rapidly and economically are also investigated.

The indoor and outdoor decontamination research section focuses on developing and testing tools, applications, and methods to clean up sites contaminated in a CBR attack. Research investigates contaminant behavior under different environmental conditions and how best to dispose of contaminated materials generated during site cleanup.

NHSRC’s Technology Testing and Evaluation Program conducts third-party performance evaluations of commercially available homeland security related technologies, which are tested against a range of performance characteristics and specifications. Technologies are evaluated for how effectively they can detect contaminants, treat drinking water, and decontaminate water distribution systems and indoor and outdoor areas.

NHSRC is staffed by approximately 60 full time personnel working in Cincinnati, Ohio, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, Nevada. They are a strong multidisciplinary team that includes experts in the areas of chemistry, microbiology, health physics, engineering, toxicology, public health, environmental science, mathematics, risk assessment, quality assurance and quality control, and the social sciences.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) conducts research and evaluations towards protecting human health and the environment from the effects of biological, chemical, and radiological (CBR) contamination due to homeland security events.

NHSRC’s water security research focuses on developing tools and applications that can provide warnings to water utilities in the event of terrorist attacks with CBR weapons. Methods that help decontaminate water and wastewater infrastructure more rapidly and economically are also investigated.

The indoor and outdoor decontamination research section focuses on developing and testing tools, applications, and methods to clean up sites contaminated in a CBR attack. Research investigates contaminant behavior under different environmental conditions and how best to dispose of contaminated materials generated during site cleanup.

NHSRC’s Technology Testing and Evaluation Program conducts third-party performance evaluations of commercially available homeland security related technologies, which are tested against a range of performance characteristics and specifications. Technologies are evaluated for how effectively they can detect contaminants, treat drinking water, and decontaminate water distribution systems and indoor and outdoor areas.

NHSRC is staffed by approximately 60 full time personnel working in Cincinnati, Ohio, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, Nevada. They are a strong multidisciplinary team that includes experts in the areas of chemistry, microbiology, health physics, engineering, toxicology, public health, environmental science, mathematics, risk assessment, quality assurance and quality control, and the social sciences.