Notice of Intent to Sole Source to NSF International

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intends to award a sole source firm fixed price purchase order to NSF International for the study of Take-Home Lead: Efficacy of Residential Laundering to Remove Lead from Clothing. This announcement is being issued based on the subject of the availability of funds per FAR 52.232-18. The primary objective of this contract is to determine the efficacy of residential laundering practices (consumer-grade washing machines) in the reduction of occupational take-home lead exposures. A number of take-home lead prevention guidance and public health messages include guidance to - launder work clothing separately from family clothing as well as instruction to run an empty rinse cycle or full wash cycle following a cycle of contaminated work clothing. However, there is no empirical evidence that this guidance does in fact remove lead from work clothing. The proposed work will elucidate the efficacy of residential laundering processes in removing lead contamination from clothing. Summary of Tasks: Task 1: Validation of application and recovery of lead. The contractor will develop, test, and validate lead application and recovery techniques on different fabric and clothing types. Task 2: If additional funding is available, this task will provide added support to findings. An investigation of previous data shall be performed of different literature to determine the types of occupational take-home lead exposure. Task 3: If additional funding is available, this task will supplement and complete a pilot project providing evidence of lead removal following laundering. Evaluation of lead reduction by household laundering. The contractor will use two consumer-grade residential, commercially available washing machines to test the method and validate the protocol. A full evaluation of the test protocol will be performed based on information gained in Task 2. Period of Performance: 12 months from date of Award. Place of Performance: All work will be performed at contractor's site. NSF INTERNATINAL is a world leader in certifying residential laundering machines for removing allergens and sanitization of clothes for those that suffer from allergies. NSF INTERNATIONAL's NSF Protocol P172 was developed by a panel of experts, including representative from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, using scientific methods to determine efficacy in removing allergens. NSF INTERNATIONAL already have the infrastructure, expertise, and method development (along with accompanying chemical laboratory to perform in-house sample analysis using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP/MS)) that uniquely qualifies them to perform this important work. This contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (SAP) and 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, all quotations/responses received within five (5) days of the issuance of this notice will be considered by the government. A determination by the government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Any quotation/response should be emailed to Contract Specialist at contact@example.gov by 12pm EST on 6-9-2020.