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EPA Research

Fentanyl Contaminated Properties. How Can We Clean them Up? Webinar with NEHA

Date and Time

Thursday 12/03/2020 2:00PM to 3:00PM EST
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Details

This webinar is hosted by the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA).

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid pain reliever that can be deadly even in small amounts. Emergency responders and hazmat teams risk potential exposure to the opioid when responding to incidents at mixing houses, pill factories, or in makeshift laboratories found in apartments, hotels, houses, garages, and storage facilities. EPA has developed a fentanyl fact sheet to support EPA on-scene coordinators’ providing assistance to local, state, tribal, and county hazmat partners in remediation of opioid contamination. The fact sheet provides information regarding the characteristics of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs and potential exposure pathways, physical properties, appropriate personal protective equipment, field detection, sampling, and analysis information.

When developing the factsheet, EPA researchers identified research gaps in the sampling and cleanup approaches of fentanyl contaminated materials. Since the fact sheet was developed, EPA researchers have tested multiple off-the-shelf, easy-to-access products for their ability to decontaminate fentanyl on common materials. They are also continuing to evaluate wipe sampling and analytical methods for environmental sampling of fentanyl. EPA presenter and Homeland Security researcher Dr. Lukas Oudejans will give an overview of this work in this upcoming webinar.

NEHA will be offering 1 Continuing Education Credit for attending this webinar.

Register for the webinar here.


Speaker

Dr. Lukas Oudejans

Dr. Lukas Oudejans is a Research Physical Scientist with the US EPA Office of Research and Development’s Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response. Over the past twelve years, he has gained vast experience in homeland security programs related to research, development and evaluation of innovative technologies for the decontamination of materials contaminated with chemical or biological agents. Currently, he is leading multiple research efforts to assess and improve on decontamination options for biological and chemical contaminated materials including contamination associated with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and fentanyl analogs. Dr. Oudejans holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.


For questions about this webinar, please contact Bailey Stearns.