The environmental industry can be confusing.
We've provided terminology below to help you better
understand the industry lingo.

A - E | F - O | P - Z

A - E top
Abatement: Procedures to control fiber release from friable asbestos-containing materials. This includes removal, enclosure, encapsulation and repair.

Abatement (lead-specific): The process of treating lead paint to reduce or remove its hazard potential. The three methods of abatement are removal, or taking the lead off the surface; encasement, which is enclosing the lead paint behind or within an impermeable covering, and replacement which is the process of removing the building component and replacing it with a new piece.

Adhesion (lead-specific): the ability of dry paint or other coating to attach to or remain fixed on a surface without blistering, flaking, cracking, or being removed by tape.

Air Monitoring (lead-specific): Collecting samples of air for the purposes of determining the quantity of lead dust. Air samples are collected either in the breathing zone of workers (personal air samples) or in large areas. During an abatement project it is customary to have air samples taken outside the work area to ensure and document that the lead dust did not migrate to unprotected areas.

Atomic Absorption (lead-specific): The method of analysis used to determine the percent of lead in paint chips, dust samples, soil and water. This is a laboratory (as opposed to field) method. The results are reported in parts per million (ppm) and/or in % lead for amount of material tested.

Asbestos: The asbestiform varieties of serpentinite (chrysotile). riebeckite (crocidolite), cummingtonite-grunerite (amosite), anthophyllite, and actinolite-tremolite. For purposes of determining respiratory and worker protection both the asbestiform and non-asbestiform varieties of the above minerals and any of these materials that have been chemically treated and/or altered shall be considered as asbestos.

Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM): Any material containing more than 1% of asbestos of any type or mixture of types.

Asbestos-Containing Building Material (ACBM): Surfacing ACM, thermal system insulation ACM, or miscellaneous ACM that is found in or on interior structural members or other parts of a building.

Asbestos-Containing Waste Material: Any material which is or is suspected of being or any material contaminated with an asbestos-containing material which is to be removed from a work area for disposal.

Asbestos Debris: Pieces of ACBM that can be identified by color, texture, or composition, or means dust, if the dust is determined by an accredited inspector to be ACM.

Barrier: Any surface that seals off the work area to inhibit the movement of fibers.

Breathing Zone: A hemisphere forward of the shoulders with a radius of approximately 6 to 9 inches.

Bridging encapsulant: an encapsulant that forms a discrete layer on the surface of an in situ asbestos matrix.

Ceiling Concentration: The concentration of an airborne substance that shall not be exceeded.

Certified Industrial Hygienist (C.I.H.): An industrial hygienist certified in Comprehensive Practice by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene.

Clearance Sampling / Wipe Sampling (lead-specific): After a lead abatement action, it is customary (required by HUD) to take wipe samples of measured areas of the room to determine the residual levels of lead. The samples are analyzed by atomic absorption, and results are reported in micrograms per square foot. The current EPA recommendations for clearance are: Uncarpeted Floors 100 micrograms/square foot Interior Window Sills 500 micrograms/square foot Window Troughs/Wells 800 micrograms/square foot

Disposal Bag: A properly labeled 6 mil thick leak-tight plastic bags used for transporting asbestos waste from work and to disposal site.

Encapsulant: A material that surrounds or embeds asbestos fibers in an adhesive matrix to prevent release of fibers.

Enclosure: The construction of an air-tight, impermeable, permanent barrier around asbestos-containing material to control the release of asbestos fibers into the air.

F - O top
Friable Asbestos Material: Material that contains more than 1.0% asbestos by weight and that can be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure when dry.

HEPA filter: A High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter capable of trapping and retaining 99.975 of asbestos fibers greater than 0.3 microns in diameter.

HUD: Housing and Urban Development; the Federal agency which is currently in charge of public housing. HUD has published guidelines for the testing and risk assessment of lead in public housing, aimed toward reducing lead poisoning primarily in children and women of child bearing potential.

Lead: Naturally occurring mineral which has been proven to have severe health effects if breathed or ingested. Only tetraethyl lead (i.e., the kind of lead used in gasoline) is known to be readily absorbed by the skin.

Lead Based Paint: Paint which contains a "dangerous" amount of lead; this level has been determined by ASTM (American Society for Testing Materials) as being 2 parts per million. Under current regulations paint with greater than 600 parts per million is no longer manufactured for household use, but it is still available for marine and other exterior use.

Negative Pressure Respirator: A respirator in which the air pressure inside the respiratory-inlet covering is positive during exhalation in relation to the air pressure of the outside atmosphere and negative during inhalation in relation to the air pressure of the outside atmosphere.

OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the Federal agency responsible for workplace safety; OSHA has strict regulations regarding exposure of workers to lead. Lead Inspection: The process of inspecting a building or dwelling to determine the presence of lead in the painted surfaces. The determination of "lead" is different for HUD than it is for OSHA. HUD defines "lead paint" as having greater than 1 micrograms per square centimeter of surface or .5% by weight; OSHA has no threshold limit: any delectable lead in a paint makes it lead paint as far as worker exposures are concerned. Lead inspections are performed by XRF, paint chip analysis, or a combination of both.

P - Z top
Penetrating encapsulant: an encapsulant that is absorbed by the in situ asbestos matrix without leaving a discrete surface layer.

Pressure Differential and Ventilation System: A local exhaust system, utilizing HEPA filtration capable of maintaining a pressure differential with the inside of the Work Area at a lower pressure than any adjacent area, and which cleans recirculated air or generates a constant air flow from adjacent areas into the Work area.

Solid Waste: As defined in RCRA the term "solid waste" means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solid waste or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under the Clean Water Act, or special nuclear or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

TCLP (Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure): A test, called the extraction procedure, that is designed to identify wastes likely to leach hazardous concentrations of particular toxic constituents into the ground water as a result of improper management. It is characteristic of hazardous waste.

Visible Emissions: Any emissions containing particulate asbestos material that are visually detectable without the aid of instruments. This does not include condensed uncombined water vapor.

Wet Cleaning: The process of eliminating asbestos or lead dust contamination from building surfaces and objects by using cloths, mops, or other cleaning utensils which have been dampened with amended water or diluted removal encapsulant and afterwards thoroughly decontaminated or disposed of as contaminated waste.

Work Area: The area where asbestos-related work or removal operations are performed which is defined and/or isolated to prevent the spread of asbestos dust, fibers or debris, and entry by unauthorized personnel. Work area is a Regulated Area as defined by 29 CFR 1926.

XRF Xray Fluorescence: This method involves the use of an instrument that utilizes a radioactive source (usually Cadmium 109 or Cobalt 57) to measure the amount of lead on a painted surface. The instrument reports results in micrograms per squared centimeter of surface. There is no correlation between the amount of lead measured by XRF and the amount of lead which is determined by Atomic Absorption under the current reporting standards. Most XRF instruments are adversely affected by the substrate, or surface which underlies the paint. The Niton XL does not need substrate correction. It can also determine the relative depth of the lead (i.e., whether it is at the surface or buried beneath layers of non-leaded paint).