Knowledge Base

Found 4 Results

Article

Visual inspection of surface sanitation: defining the conditions that enhance the human threshold for detection of food residues

Daeschel, D., Singh Rana, Y., Chen, L., Cai, S., Dando, R. and Snyder, A.B.

2023Food Control149109691

Keywordscleaning, decontamination

DisciplinesSocial sciences

CategoriesField work, Statistical analysis

Scale1e-6 m, 1e-6 to 1e-3 m / 1 to 60 s

Non-expert summaryVisual inspection is widely used in assessing and monitoring cleaning, sanitation and decontamination. This experimental study explored the degree of residual soiling on equipment surfaces that lies below the limit of visual detection. The goal of this study was to evaluate the limit of detection of visual inspections and establish evidence-based strategies to improve the implementation of this activity. 101 respondents completed a visual sensory test where each one looked at viewed 15 stainless steel and 15 white high density polyethylene sheets, clean or soiled with dry wheat flour, in a randomly generated order. They were asked if they could visually detect food residue on each surface and, if so, if the surface should be re-cleaned. They were also asked to answer this when they could touch the surfaces with a gloved hand. The impact of training, use of illumination, viewing angle and colour-contrast are quantified. The results provide a quantitative measure of the effectiveness of visual inspection, and factors than can influence this.

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Technical report

Bio-Response Operational Testing and Evaluation (BOTE) Project – Phase 1: Decontamination Assessment

US Environment Protection Agency

2013

Institution / OrganisationUS Environment Protection Agency

Keywordsbacteria, cleaning, decontamination

DisciplinesMicrobiology

CategoryField work

Scale1 to 10 m, 10 to 1000 m, greater than 1 km / 1 to 60 min, 1 to 24 hours, 1 to 30 days, 1 to 12 months, greater than 1 year

Non-expert summaryThe US Environment Protection Agency led a multi-agency investigation into the response to a release of a biological agent. The report summary states "The Bio-response Operational Testing and Evaluation (BOTE) Project was a multi-agency effort designed to operationally test and evaluate a response to a biological incident (release of Bacillus anthracis spores, the causative agent for anthrax) from initial public health and law enforcement response through environmental remediation. The BOTE Project consisted of two distinct phases, both using the same non-pathogenic simulant (or surrogate) for these spores. Phase 1 was a field-level decontamination assessment, and Phase 2 was an operational exercise involving key federal agencies responsible for the forensic investigation, public health assessment, and remediation following a biological incident. Phase 1 was designed to address site remediation after the release of a simulant within a facility in an operational setting, drawing upon the recent advances in both biological sampling and decontamination. "

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Technical report

A Review of biological agent sampling methods and application to a wide-area incident scenario to characterize time and resource demands

Calfee, W., Lee, S., Boe, T.

2017

Institution / OrganisationUS Environment Protection Agency

Keywordsbacteria, cleaning, decontamination, risk

DisciplinesMicrobiology

CategoriesField work, Review

Scale1e-3 to 1 m, 1 to 10 m, 10 to 1000 m, greater than 1 km / 1 to 60 s, 1 to 60 min, 1 to 24 hours, 1 to 30 days, 1 to 12 months, greater than 1 year

Non-expert summaryThe executive summary of this US EPA report states: "A large-scale aerosol release of a persistent, disease-causing biological agent can result in contamination of a wide area, and may require significant time and resources for recovery depending on the severity of adverse health effects on the exposed population(s). Many unknowns are associated with characterization and clearance sampling during response to a wide-area (including indoor, outdoor, and underground area) biological incident. The biological agent and its characteristics, the release mechanism, amount of contaminant released, and a plethora of environmental and meteorological factors are completely separate, yet interconnected processes that greatly influence the extent and level of contamination. Similarly, decisions related to the sampling strategy (i.e., sample medium, sampling area, spacing, etc.) will affect the cost, time, amount of waste generated, and personnel (i.e., resource demand) required to characterize and clear the contaminated area. The process of understanding how these elements influence one another and contribute to the overall problem is referred to as a systems approach. To what degree sampling and, more specifically, variations in the sampling strategy interact and contribute to overall resource demand, following a wide area biological incident, is still largely unknown. To date, there have been no attempts to model characterization sampling following a wide-area biological incident."

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Article

Modelling mass casualty decontamination systems informed by field exercise data

Egan, J.R., Amlôt, R.

2012International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health93685-3710

Keywordschemical warfare agent simulant, decontamination, emergency response, people

DisciplinesStatistics & Probabilities

CategoriesField work, Numerical simulations

Scale1 to 10 m, 10 to 1000 m, greater than 1 km / 1 to 24 hours, 1 to 30 days

Non-expert summaryThe management of decontamination of the population (who were mobile enough to walk through a showering lane) in the event of a large-scale chemical release in the UK was modelled, based on data collected in field trials. The movement of volunteer casualties at two mass decontamination field exercises was monitored using passive Radio Frequency Identification tags and detection mats. The data were used to inform a computer model of the UK fire and rescue service component of the mass decontamination process. This identified bottlenecks in the process and led to recommendations for change, particularly in the re-dressing part of the process.

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