APPROVED LABORATORIES TESTING FOR ASBESTOS 

Local education administrators who plan to have bulk samples analyzed for asbestos should be aware that both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Health Department have requirements which affect laboratory selection.

Pursuant to 40 CFR Part 763, approved methods of analysis must be used to detect asbestos in bulk samples, and laboratories which do the analysis will have to be approved by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). However, until the NBS program is in place, EPA's "Interim Method for the Determination of Asbestos in Bulk Insulation Samples" shall be used. This means that only laboratories which are registered in the quality assurance program of the
Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina have EPA approval. Administrators should be sure to get a laboratory's proof of enrollment and its certification number. A list of participating
laboratories may be requested by calling (202) 554-1404.

In addition, Section 502 of the New York State Public Health Law sets forth requirements concerning laboratory examinations. Any political subdivision, including school districts, who contracts for laboratory examinations is required to use a laboratory approved by the Health Department for such examinations. The New York State Health Department's Environmental Laboratory Approved Program (ELAP) approves laboratories to do solid and hazardous waste, and air and emissions sample analysis pertaining to asbestos.

Currently, a listing of laboratories who do bulk sample analysis is available by requesting "Commercial Laboratories with New York State Approval to Perform Environmental Analysis" from:

ELAP
Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research
New York State Department of Health
Albany, New York 12201


(published April 1988)