The Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center in Cincinnati is the second-largest research and development facility of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It specializes in water research, bioremediation, and pollution prevention. [1]
The Environmental Research Center traces its lineage to activities of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) in Cincinnati since the 1850s. [2] [3] A U.S. Marine Hospital was established in Cincinnati in 1882 in the former Kilgour Mansion, built around 1815 by David Kilgour. [4] [5] The hospital closed in 1905, [4] but the 1912 PHS law (Pub.L. 62–265) led to the building being reopened as a Field Investigation Station for water pollution research. [6] [7] It was initially called the Stream Pollution Investigations Station and focused on natural purification of streamwater, and water treatment systems. 1949 it was renamed the Environmental Health Center of the PHS as it expanded into air, industrial, and chemical pollution and radiological health research. [8]
In 1954 it moved to the newly constructed Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center, [6] [9] which consolidated seven PHS locations. [6] It was named for the recently deceased Senator Robert A. Taft, and had about 200 staff. As of 1964, the center had grown to 1000 staff spread over ten locations in Cincinnati. A separate PHS Division of Occupational Health also existed that was not part of the center. [8]
In 1966 the center was transferred to the Federal Water Quality Administration in the Department of the Interior, and in 1970 to the newly created Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). [6] [7]
Upon its creation, EPA inherited 84 sites spread across 26 states, of which 42 sites were laboratories. The EPA consolidated these laboratories into 22 sites, with major research centers in Cincinnati, Research Triangle Park, Las Vegas, and Corvallis, Oregon. [10] The new Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center, a 10-story building on a 22-acre site, opened in 1978. [1] [7] It was named after Andrew W. Breidenbach, the recently retired EPA Assistant Administrator for Water and Hazardous Materials. [7] The EPA vacated the Taft Center, which was taken over by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. [11]
A free-standing one-story full containment laboratory was constructed after 1987. [12] [13] At the time, there was no known full containment facility for the desired research on highly hazardous materials in the United States. [12] A Child Development Center was constructed in the 1980s. Annex 1, a three-story addition containing office space, opened in 2004. Annex 2, which was built to LEED Gold standards, consists of a north wing opened in 2007, and a west wing opened in 2008. As of 2013, 894 employees worked at the complex. [13]
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, noise is indistinguishable from sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arises when the brain receives and perceives a sound.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. The agency is led by its administrator, who is appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. The current administrator is former deputy administrator Andrew R. Wheeler, who had been acting administrator since July 2018. The EPA is not a Cabinet department, but the administrator is normally given cabinet rank.
The United States Public Health Service (USPHS) is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health. It contains eight out of the department's eleven operating divisions. The Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) oversees the PHS. The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) is the federal uniformed service of the USPHS, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States.
1,4-Dichlorobenzene (1,4-DCB, p-DCB, or para-dichlorobenzene, sometimes abbreviated as PDB or para) is an organic compound with the formula C6H4Cl2. This colorless solid has a strong odor. The molecule consists of a benzene ring with two chlorine atoms (replacing hydrogen atoms) on opposing sites of the ring.
The chemical compound trichloroethylene is a halocarbon commonly used as an industrial solvent. It is a clear, colourless non-flammable liquid with a chloroform-like sweet smell. It should not be confused with the similar 1,1,1-trichloroethane, which is commonly known as chlorothene.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is the United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its current director is John Howard.
Carbaryl is a chemical in the carbamate family used chiefly as an insecticide. It is a white crystalline solid commonly sold under the brand name Sevin, a trademark of the Bayer Company. Union Carbide discovered carbaryl and introduced it commercially in 1958. Bayer purchased Aventis CropScience in 2002, a company that included Union Carbide pesticide operations. It remains the third-most-used insecticide in the United States for home gardens, commercial agriculture, and forestry and rangeland protection. About 11 million kilograms were applied to U.S. farm crops in 1976. As a veterinary drug, it is known as carbaril (INN).
A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous atmospheres, including fumes, vapours, gases and particulate matter such as dusts and airborne microorganisms. There are two main categories: the air-purifying respirator, in which respirable air is obtained by filtering a contaminated atmosphere, and the air-supplied respirator, in which an alternate supply of breathable air is delivered. Within each category, different techniques are employed to reduce or eliminate noxious airborne contaminants.
Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is an organochlorine compound used as a pesticide and a disinfectant. First produced in the 1930s, it is marketed under many trade names. It can be found as pure PCP, or as the sodium salt of PCP, the latter of which dissolves easily in water. It can be biodegraded by some bacteria, including Sphingobium chlorophenolicum.
Chloroprene is the common name for 2-chlorobuta-1,3-diene (IUPAC name) with the chemical formula CH2=CCl−CH=CH2. Chloroprene is a colorless volatile liquid, almost exclusively used as a monomer for the production of the polymer polychloroprene, a type of synthetic rubber. Polychloroprene is better known as Neoprene, the trade name given by DuPont.
Endrin is an organochloride with the chemical formula C12H8Cl6O that was first produced in 1950 by Shell and Velsicol Chemical Corporation. It was primarily used as an insecticide, as well as a rodenticide and piscicide. It is a colourless, odorless solid, although commercial samples are often off-white. Endrin was manufactured as an emulsifiable solution known commercially as Endrex. The compound became infamous as a persistent organic pollutant and for this reason it is banned in many countries.
Methoxychlor is a synthetic organochloride insecticide, now obsolete.
The Global Environmental and Occupational Health e-Library or GeoLibrary is a database of occupational safety and health and environmental health training materials and practice tools. The library is divided into three sections: Environmental Health; Occupational Health and Safety; and a specialty library on Road Safety at Work.
John F. (Jack) Finklea was a physician, professor, researcher, and public health administrator notable for his leadership at the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
1,2,3-Trichloropropane (TCP) is an organic compound with the formula CHCl(CH2Cl)2. It is a colorless liquid that is used as a solvent and in other specialty applications.
Clarence Matthew Tarzwell (1907–1993) was an aquatic biologist and water pollution researcher in the employ of the United States Public Health Service and later, the Environmental Protection Agency. He was the founding director of the National Marine Water Quality Laboratory in West Kingston, Rhode Island, and was a major contributor to the formulation of the Clean Water Act of 1972.
Cincinnati Marine Hospital may refer to:
Between 1966 and 1973, a series of reorganizations occurred of the United States Public Health Service (PHS) within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). The reorganization by 1968 replaced PHS's old bureau structure with two new operating agencies: the Health Services and Mental Health Administration (HSMHA) and the Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service (CPEHS). The goal of the reorganizations was to coordinate the previously fragmented divisions to provide a holistic approach to large, overarching problems.
The Bureau of State Services (BSS) was one of three principal operating agencies of the United States Public Health Service (PHS) from 1943 until 1966. The bureau contained the PHS divisions that administered cooperative services to U.S. states through technical and financial assistance, and included significant programs in community health, environmental health, and workforce development.
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center . |
Coordinates: 39°08′11″N84°30′39″W / 39.136472°N 84.510917°W