Tuesday, August 3, 2010: 9:00 AM
Grand B (Hyatt Regency San Francisco)
The West Desert Test Center (WDTC), located at U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground (DPG), Utah, has been designated by the Department of Defense as a Major Range and Test Facility Base (MRTFB). DPG was designated as a MRTFB because of its remoteness and because it possesses unique ranges and facilities for the testing and evaluation of chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological,defense systems. All work with select agent and most work involving category one and two microorganisms are conducted in the Lothar L. Salomon Life Sciences Test Facility (LSTF). The LSTF houses highly specialized chambers for aerobiological testing as well as a full complement of bioanalytical instrumentation and traditional microbiological equipment. These capabilities will be discussed as part of the presentation given to the Society for Industrial Microbiology (SIM) 60th Annual Meeting and Exhibition as well as dedicating some time to the description of select past and present programs with particular attention focused on the recent completion of a project to assess the efficacy of a microbiostatic agent to inhibit fungal growth on apparel worn by U.S. Army soldiers. The latter program followed standard procedures outlined in military standard MIL-STN-810 “Department of Defense Test Method Standard for Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests” and utilized an environmentally controlled fungus chamber which will be described in detail.