Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML)

DATE: Established in 1947 as the Health and Safety Division of the Atomic Energy Commission

IDENTIFICATION: US government-owned and-operated scientific laboratory, part of the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security, that monitors local and global radiation levels and operates as part of the emergency response group for investigation and remediation of radiological incidents and accidents.

SIGNIFICANCE: The Environmental Measurements Laboratory is part of the American arsenal of defense aimed at countering nuclear and other radiation-based threats. The lab specializes in the study of ways to prevent and respond to radiological and nuclear events. Through its pilot deployment programs, the laboratory provides the Department of Homeland Security with information about and evaluation of radiation and radioactivity measurements in the laboratory and in the field.

The beginnings of the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) go back to the famed Manhattan Project of World War II, which developed the first nuclear weapon. That project’s Medical Division served the function of ensuring radiation safety among personnel and their habitat, and, in a sense, the EML has continued to maintain the same basic function in all the ensuing years. The Medical Division’s main goal was to provide information about industrial hygiene and radiation protection for workers on the Manhattan Project.

In 1947, the Medical Division laboratory became part of the newly created US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and was renamed the Health and Safety Division. In 1953, the laboratory was again renamed, becoming the Health and Safety Laboratory (HASL), and its focus shifted to the measurement and assessment of the accumulation and impacts of radioactive fallout from tests of nuclear weapons. The HASL established a series of global monitoring stations to sample and measure wet and dry radioactive fallout in the atmosphere using gummed film methodology. During the 1960s, the lab expanded its survey coverage to include measurements of radioactive fallout accumulations and impacts in soil, water, and biological materials and also in food products. As part of this work, the HASL established a quality-assurance program for environmental dosimeters and developed a procedures manual that established methodologies, equipment, and procedures for measuring all environmental radiation.

When the AEC was shut down in 1975, the Health and Safety Laboratory was transferred to the Energy Research and Development Administration. When that administration was absorbed by the Department of Energy in 1977, the laboratory’s name was changed to the Environmental Measurements Laboratory. In the late 1970s and the 1980s, the EML’s work included testing of contaminant radiation levels following the accidents at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Soviet Union and at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania as well as testing for radon in industrial workplaces, commercial buildings, and residential homes.

In 1997, the EML became part of the Office of Environmental Management. In this context, its work continued to focus on environmental monitoring, but the lab was also charged with nuclear plant decommissioning, decontamination, and remediation efforts as needed to make local landscapes safe with respect to residual radiation levels. Final efforts at each of these sites were concerned with long-term stewardship of the immediate areas, as well as continued monitoring of the regions to ensure that safe levels of radiation were maintained.

Ongoing Tasks

In 2002, the EML was again transferred, this time into the newly created Department of Homeland Security, which itself was formed in response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11 of the previous year. As part of the Department of Homeland Security, the EML continues to monitor international radiation levels but has also taken on additional responsibilities as part of a team of first responders to radiation threats at all levels.

The EML also works with a number of federal departments and agencies—including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, US Coast Guard, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and American National Standards Institute—on homeland security-related issues. The scope and breadth of the tasks carried out by the EML are illustrated by certain key ongoing projects of the lab, such as the New York/New Jersey Science and Technology Countermeasures Test Bed (which is aimed at detecting radiation and explosives), the Maritime Interceptor for Nuclear Detection, the Radiological Emergency Management System, and the Neutron “Ship Effect” Studies for the Port Authority of New York.

The EML develops and evaluates technologies and surveillance/monitoring systems specifically aimed at the detection and measurement of all types of radiological materials for possible interdiction and management. In this capacity, the laboratory both trains and offers the services of technical specialists in the development, analysis, and validation of standards who can provide guidance in the use of radioactivity measurement instruments and systems. EML staff members participate in standards development, serve on adoption committees, and work with interstate technical groups to develop user guidelines.

and the EML

The EML maintains the International Environmental Sample Archive, a database of radiation samples collected in each of the previous decades of atomic weapons testing. This archive includes atmospheric samples as well as other samples that contain signature isotopes. In the event that law-enforcement authorities need to determine the origins of any radioactive materials that could be used in terrorist weapons or otherwise pose a threat, the EML can use the archive to track the materials to their sources. The archive also enables the EML to track other nations’ compliance with the terms of nuclear nonproliferation treaties. Other areas of study conducted by the EML that have applications for forensic science include chemical profiling, stable isotope analysis, and research concerning the commercial availability, uses, and impacts of radioactive substances.

Bibliography

Ahmed, Syed Naeem. Physics and Engineering of Radiation Detection. San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, 2007.

Anumol, Dr. Tarun. "Sustainability in Environmental Testing Labs: A Path Forward." Technology Networks, 28 Nov. 2023, www.technologynetworks.com/tn/blog/sustainability-in-environmental-testing-labs-a-path-forward-381353. Accessed 14 Aug. 2024.

Beck, Harold L., and Burton G. Bennett. “Historical Overview of Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Testing and Estimates of Fallout in the Continental United States.” Health Physics 82 (May, 2002): 591-608.

Knoll, Glenn F. Radiation Detection and Measurement. 3d ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000.

Saha, Gopal B. Fundamentals of Nuclear Pharmacy. 5th ed. New York: Springer, 2004.

Stabin, Michael G. Radiation Protection and Dosimetry: An Introduction to Health Physics. New York: Springer, 2007.