Single Source Acceptance Testing of Filters

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Research Triangle Park, North Carolina is responsible for procuring, testing, and distributing filters of high purity to the State/local air pollution control agencies. The quartz filters are used with a size selective sampler (SSI) to collect Particulate Matter (P10) (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers) samples. The glass fiber filters are used with a Total Suspended Particulate (TSP) sampler. The Teflon filters are used with a sampler to collect PM-2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 2.5 micrometers) samples. This process assures that filters with uniform characteristics which have undergone quality assurance testing are acceptable for use by the national particulate networks. The objective of this proposed acquisition is to obtain independent testing of the delivered Glass, Teflon, and Quartz filters to ensure that they to meet the regulatory standards as required by the EPA. These filters cannot be to various state and local air pollution control agencies as shown in until they have passed the independent testing and subsequently accepted by the USEPA.