CTEH (formerly "Center for
Toxicology and Environmental Health"
The 2014 Tank Vapor Assessment Report (TVAR), developed by the Hanford Tank Vapors Assessment Team and led by Savannah River National Laboratory (SNRL), provided an Overarching Recommendation to “accelerate development and implementation of a revised IH exposure assessment strategy that is protective of worker health and establishes stakeholder confidence in the results for acute as well as chronic exposures.” .
In 2016, CTEH, LLC performed an independent, third-party assessment of Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) Industrial Hygiene’s (IH’s) implementation of the chemical vapors Technical Basis (full report here). On February 10, 2019, CTEH submitted a reassessment of the Technical Basis based on observations made over the previous two years (full report here). CTEH’s reassessment says the steps WRPS has taken to improve the defense-in-depth strategy for tank farm worker health protection have increased confidence in the level of worker protection from adverse effects from tank farm vapors. CTEH’s reassessment also identifies opportunities for improving the way technical and procedural information is conveyed to and received from the workforce. These include specifying time intervals that tank waste sampling data is reviewed, providing periodic summaries of analytical sampling data, formally reviewing data on vapor odor thresholds and conveying findings to the workforce, and increasing the training of IH professionals and technicians for responding to worker questions in the field regarding tank vapors. CTEH states that the chemical vapor Technical Basis is scientifically sound. CTEH also notes that efforts made to control vapor exposure while providing workforce education on vapors health effects are effective in making workers be safe and feel safe.