title: Use of Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus atrophaeus as surrogates to establish and maintain laboratory proficiency for concentration of water samples using ultrafiltration.
abstract: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Water Laboratory Alliance (WLA) currently uses ultrafiltration (UF) for concentration of biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) agents from large volumes (up to 100-L) of drinking water prior to analysis. Most UF procedures require comprehensive training and practice to achieve and maintain proficiency. As a result, there was a critical need to develop quality control (QC) criteria. Because select agents are difficult to work with and pose a significant safety hazard, QC criteria were developed using surrogates, including Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus atrophaeus. This article presents the results from the QC criteria development study and results from a subsequent demonstration exercise in which E. faecalis was used to evaluate proficiency using UF to concentrate large volume drinking water samples. Based on preliminary testing EPA Method 1600 and Standard Methods 9218, for E. faecalis and B. atrophaeus respectively, were selected for use during the QC criteria development study. The QC criteria established for Method 1600 were used to assess laboratory performance during the demonstration exercise. Based on the results of the QC criteria study E. faecalis and B. atrophaeus can be used effectively to demonstrate and maintain proficiency using ultrafiltration.
authors: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA. Electronic address: Mapp.Latisha@epamail.epa.gov.
authors: Latisha
authors: L
authors: Mapp
authors: CSC, Science and Engineering, 255 East Fifth St, 27th Floor, Cincinnati, OH 45202, USA.
authors: Patricia
authors: P
authors: Klonicki
authors: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA.
authors: Prisca
authors: P
authors: Takundwa
authors: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop D66, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
authors: Vincent R
authors: VR
authors: Hill
authors: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop D66, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; IHRC, Inc., 2 Ravinia Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30346, USA.
authors: Chandra
authors: C
authors: Schneeberger
authors: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop D66, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
authors: Jackie
authors: J
authors: Knee
authors: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA.
authors: Malik
authors: M
authors: Raynor
authors: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA.
authors: Nina
authors: N
authors: Hwang
authors: CSC, Science and Engineering, 6361 Walker Lane, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22310, USA.
authors: Yildiz
authors: Y
authors: Chambers
authors: CSC, Science and Engineering, 6361 Walker Lane, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22310, USA.
authors: Kenneth
authors: K
authors: Miller
authors: CSC, Science and Engineering, 6361 Walker Lane, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22310, USA.
authors: Misty
authors: M
authors: Pope
mesh_terms: D001407:Bacillus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015415:Biomarkers; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000382:microbiology*; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D059021:Laboratory Proficiency Testing / Q000379:methods*; D011786:Quality Control; D014462:Ultrafiltration / Q000592:standards*; D014876:Water Pollution
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D060766:Drinking Water
keywords: Bacillus atrophaeus; Drinking water; Enterococcus faecalis; Quality control (QC) criteria; Surrogate; Ultrafiltration; Water Laboratory Alliance