Microbiology Laboratory Testing

Houston, TX, September 8, 2017

Hurricane Harvey’s destructive flooding has caused many threats of toxic pollution to Houston, Texas’ water, soil and air. Health department officials say the city of Houston needs help detecting, monitoring, and eliminating these potential hazards. Due to the hurricane’s impact on the city’s water supply, the need for sampling is higher than ever in order to ensure the safety of Houston’s residents. EMSL Analytical, Inc. offers microbial source identification, which helps direct resources towards a corrective action for the situation at hand.

EMSL provides culture methods to test for sewage contamination in buildings (Test Codes: M117 & M013) as well as Bacteroides PCR-based methods. EMSL’s Bacteroides test has many advantages over the traditional total coliforms, fecal coliforms, fecal Streptococcus, Enterococcus and E. coli tests. Bacteroides is specific for fecal contamination from all sources such as animals, birds, and humans. Since they are anaerobic, Bacteroides will not multiply in the environment. They outnumber coliforms by 1.000:1 and outnumber E.coli by 10,000:1. Therefore, the chance of detecting Bacteroides is greatly increased.

Most importantly, traditional culture based tests rely on the presence of live bacteria. Unfortunately, these bacteria often will not be viable in indoor environments. This means that a negative coliform or E.coli result from an indoor sample may not prove the absence of fecal contamination. The Bacteroides test overcomes this limitation, since PCR is used, the laboratory can detect live, non-viable or viable but non-culturable bacteria.

“If you are a property owner, manager or tenant faced with damage from Hurricane Harvey, you need to be aware of potentially serious health and safety hazards that you may encounter,” said Joe Frasca, Senior Vice President of Marketing at EMSL Analytical, Inc. “EMSL offers a wide range of sewage testing services to identify these contaminants to help ensure that the homes and businesses in Houston are properly cleaned before families and workers return.”

When shipping samples, be sure to label each container with a unique identifier using a permanent marker. There are no special shipping requirements since Bacteroides will not multiply outside of the intestine. Ship the samples as quickly as possible to EMSL Analytical, Inc.’s corporate headquarters located at 200 Route 130 North, Cinnaminson, NJ  08077. 

To learn more about Bacteroides testing, as well as environmental, health and safety services, please visit www.EMSL.com, call (800) 220-3675 or email info@EMSL.com. For access to indoor environmental quality test kits, visit www.EMSLTestKits.com.  

About EMSL Analytical, Inc.

EMSL Analytical, Inc. is one of the leading testing laboratories with 40 locations throughout the United States and Canada. EMSL is a nationally recognized and locally focused provider specializing in fast laboratory results for mold, bacteria, Legionella, USP <797>, pathogens, asbestos, lead, soot, char & ash from fires, VOC’s, odors, radon, formaldehyde, indoor air quality, microbiology, environmental, industrial hygiene, radiological, food, beverage & consumer products and material testing services for the identification of unknown substances. EMSL services both professionals and the general public. EMSL maintains an extensive list of accreditations from leading organizations as well as state and federal regulating bodies including, but not limited to A2LA, AIHA LAP, LLC. (AIHA EMLAP, AIHA IHLAP, AIHA ELLAP), NVLAP, CDC ELITE, CPSC, CA ELAP, NY ELAP, TX DOH, NJDEP and multiple other state accrediting agencies. Please visit our website at www.EMSL.com for a complete listing of accreditations.  In addition, EMSL carries a wide range of Sampling Equipment and Investigative Products for environmental professionals.