Lab biodetector tests to be safe, public to be well informed

Contact: Nancy Ambrosiano, (505) 665-4610 (99-101)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., June 30, 1999 -- In planning outdoor releases of a bacterial spore to test detectors for airborne biological agents, the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory is coordinating with local communities and organizations, seeking to achieve a fuller community understanding of the experiment, its purpose, tools and methods, before proceeding with any airborne bacterial tests.

A public meeting will be held Wednesday, July 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the White Rock Town Hall to provide information to local residents. They will have an opportunity to ask questions of the scientists involved, as well as hearing from the State Department of Health representative. Meetings have already been held with Bandelier National Monument staff, county and local pueblo representatives, and as preparations continue, more meetings will occur.

Tasked by Congress and the Department of Energy to develop technologies to counter terrorist attacks, Los Alamos scientists are developing sophisticated biodetectors that could alert the presence of airborne biological substances (such as anthrax) in time to allow medical intervention and save lives. Terrorists or rogue nations using anthrax count on its invisibility, and the fact that no symptoms appear in its victims for several days. Using tools such as the Los Alamos detectors, however, the essential alert could be provided within minutes of a terrorist's bacterial release, allowing treatment of the exposed citizens or soldiers to begin in a timely fashion. To ensure that the detectors are effective in "real world" situations, however, they must be tested outdoors, where they are challenged by the real dust, pollen and many other natural contaminants that float in the air.

The only material to be released in these tests is a harmless stand-in for the targeted bioagents, one that has no ill effects on anyone but the most extremely ill, and is found worldwide in soils and on root vegetables such as potatoes, radishes and carrots. The bacterium Los Alamos plans to use is Bacillus globigii, also known as Bacillus subtilis. It is a bacterium that is found in soils virtually everywhere, so you are exposed to it on any windy day in New Mexico (because of this you can also find it in rugs and upholstery in homes).

According to the State of New Mexico's Public Health office, the bacterium has little effect upon humans and animals. This is a normal soil bacterium, not the kind that usually makes us sick. There are few published cases of infection in people, and those have been under unusual circumstances. Individuals who are under intense chemotherapy, at the level where they are residents in hospital isolation wards, may be at risk for infection from any bacteria, including BG, but a person well enough to be out of the hospital, even with diabetes, HIV infection or pregnancy, "will not be at risk from this bacterium, especially in the small amounts to be used in this experiment," a State representative said.

The quantity the Lab proposes to use is about a handful (three-eighths of a cup) per test. This is tiny compared to what already resides in the soil and will be undetectable-and completely innocuous -beyond a mile or so of the test area. BG is recommended as a "probiotic" dietary supplement by some health food organizations, and is sold in Asian specialty food stores as "natto." It is also used commercially as a tracer for environmental tracking and testing airflow and sterilization measures in hospitals and industry.

"These tests are extremely safe to Lab workers, the public and the environment. The outcome of the tests will be better technology to protect citizens against attacks using harmful biological agents," noted Don Cobb, Associate Laboratory Director for Threat Reduction.

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July 1, 1999

Fact Sheet

Field Tests of Bacteria Detection System

Introduction

Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers plan field tests of technology that will aid rapid detection of biological agents in the air. The tests will involve the outdoor release of the nonhazardous bacterium Bacillus globigii at Los Alamos' Technical Area 33, located at the southeastern boundary of the Laboratory. Bacillus globigii is found in soils worldwide, is harmless to humans and for decades has been safely used in biological studies as a stand-in for pathogenic bacteria.

President Clinton, in an address to the National Academy of Sciences in January, described the evolving terrorist threats the nation faces and said, "We have to be ready for the possibility that such a group will obtain biological weapons. We have to be ready to detect and address a biological attack promptly."

Energy Secretary Richardson in an address to the National Press Club in March, challenged the national laboratories to "revolutionize our proliferation detection capabilities" for chemical and biological weapons, outpacing the ability of terrorists to avoid detection. "I am not seeking baby steps but giant strides. I am seeking ten-fold to hundred-fold improvements in performance by the year 2005," he said.

Los Alamos is engaged in biological-agent detection research that supports the country's response to these new threats to national security.

Purpose of Field Tests

Los Alamos is developing technologies and information processing systems that can provide rapid warning of an attack using airborne biological agents. This effort, undertaken for the Department of Defense, aims to provide sufficiently early warning of biological threats that military troops in the field, for example, can don respirators and other protective clothing in time to avoid significant exposure and infection. The technology could also be used to help protect large public events that could be the target of terrorist attacks.

Los Alamos, in a joint study with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will test a detection algorithm that rapidly processes information from a network of radio-linked sensors. A successful system must, in real time, compile and analyze measurements from remote sensors into a single view of the battlefield that identifies signs of particulate clouds crossing the field. The TA-33 test will use as the sensor network five commercially available devices that measure the sizes of airborne particulates.

The tests at Technical Area 33 also will be used to evaluate a new biological aerosol monitor Los Alamos researchers are developing. The monitor illuminates captured particulates with light from an ultraviolet laser and looks for natural fluorescent responses. The fluorescent emissions can reveal the presence of proteins and living organisms. The TA-33 tests will enable Los Alamos to field this advanced sensor much earlier than would be the case if the testing had to be scheduled and conducted offsite.

Materials Used

Bacillus globigii, the bacterium to be used in the field tests, lives in soils around the world and can readily be found in samplings of wind-borne dust particles. It is also known as Bacillus subtilis, its more modern name. The National Institutes of Health's Centers for Disease Control lists BG as a "Class 1" organism, meaning it is harmless and non-pathogenic to humans. It can be purchased commercially and has been used for decades in biological studies, and as a tracer for hospitals to check their sterilization procedures and airflow patterns. Studies have identified one case of allergic sensitivity to BG following exposure to extremely high airborne levels and one case of infection caused by BG contamination in a contact lens soaking solution. Otherwise there is no evidence of transmission to people and no evidence of pathogenicity to healthy individuals. The bacterium is easily killed with a dilute solution of household bleach

Procedures

The National Institutes of Health requires Biosafety Level 1procedures -- the lowest level of safety precautions -- for handling BG and other Class 1 organisms. BSL-1 procedures call for gloves and lab coats when working with the bacterium. Because Los Alamos researchers will create aerosols from the BG spores, our safety procedures add the use of half-face respirators by all employees during experimental activities. The respirators, each with a screw-on HEPA filter, are similar to those sold in hardware stores for use while painting. Each round of experiments will last two nights with four 10-minute releases of material each night. The experiments will be conducted at night when background particulate levels are typically at their lowest and winds are very low.

Safety Reviews

Plans for the experiments involving outdoor releases of BG were reviewed and approved by Los Alamos' Institutional Biosafety Committee. A review under the National Environmental Protection Act protocol resulted in a "categorical exclusion" determination by the Department of Energy. A categorical exclusion means the proposed actions do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on people or the environment and, therefore, do not require preparation of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.

Los Alamos' Air Quality Group conducted computer modeling of the dispersal of the released bacteria using methodologies approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. The modeling results showed that concentrations of bacterial particulates under the planned test procedures would remain well below any levels that would require additional, special permitting. Normal background levels of airborne particulates are about 200 to 300 particles per liter of air (a number that can rise dramatically on a windy day). By contrast, at the test site, release of the bacterial spores during experiments will add between 10 and 100 particles per liter of air above the background levels.

For information, call 665-4610 (media) or 665-4400 (public).

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