RAPID: Identification and Measurement of Emissions from the Biolab Incident Impacting the Atlanta Urban Area

This project focuses on identifying and quantifying the atmospheric emissions from a chemical release that occurred as the result of a fire at the BioLab facility in Conyers, Georgia on September 29, 2024. The event resulted in a large-scale release of chlorine and bromine containing compounds forming a chemical plume that impacted Atlanta and the surrounding areas for several weeks and led to the evacuation of approximately 17,000 people and a stay-at-home order for the surrounding county.

Biolab is a manufacturer that produces chlorine and bromine containing chemicals for pools and spas. The results from this project will increase the ability to predict the impacts of chemical incidents such as this one and enable a better understanding of how to address accidental chemical emissions in the future.

The project includes the following tasks to: (1) finish calibration of the inorganic bromine data; (2) develop a lower limit for the observed HNCO and CH2N2 concentrations; (3) prepare a publication describing the Cl2, Br2, HNCO and CH2N2 data and archive the data to a publicly accessible site; (4) analyze mass spectra associated with the plumes and identify as many compounds as possible; (5) calibrate the species identified, prioritizing them based on toxicity; and (6) report on all species detected in the plumes in a second publication.

This effort will inform local communities near the site who are concerned over the identity and level of chemicals to which they were exposed. A graduate research assistant will be trained and supported for 9 months during the project.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.