Case Studies

An international herbicide company needed to replace an undesirable co-solvent in one of its major combination products. Unfortunately, without it, one of the active ingredients would lose solubility. Our solution allowed our client to dispense with the undesirable co-solvent and reintroduce their product in a safer, more sustainable formulation.

NEON Science Team staff have developed a tutorial to walk data users through the process of how to find quality flag data, how to interpret the results of the many quality tests that NEON data are subjected to, how to determine if the quality flagged data are suitable for their research objectives, and how to filter out unwanted data from their research.

Battelle developed a new testing methodology to rapidly screen water samples for a number of emerging contaminants and current-use pesticides. We then studied different treatment strategies to determine the most effective way to remediate and dispose of compromised water.

Exposure to formaldehyde in ambient air poses one of the greatest risks for cancer among the air toxins. The current methods for measure carbonyls has limitations. Battelle investigated the method with the goal of updating guidance on how best to implement this critical air monitoring technique.

Using the new lab data, Battelle was able to refine the assumptions used in the Borstal computer model to provide a more realistic risk assessment of potential leaching. The refined modelling can be used to make better decisions about application recommendations, and provide critical data necessary to maintain product registration or move into new market areas.

NEON data, which have been shared with the U.S. Forest Service, may help in the development of fuel models that could be used to determine the percentage of total available biomass actually consumed by Western American Wildfires. By improving the estimates of total biomass that researchers can get from remote sensing data, that data can be used to build models that give us better predictions of wildfire spread and emissions. This will also help us predict how changes in biomass resulting from climate change may influence fire activity in the future.

Battelle performed design for manufacturing efforts and collaboratively worked with suppliers to develop a cost-effective solution for a ruggedized and rapidly deployable floodlight. This sealed light includes several custom machined and anodized parts, custom circuit cards, and has a pressure-sealed compartment that is nitrogen backfilled.

The U.S. Army Public Health Center (APHC) is responsible for informing decision making for 50+ programs that are implemented in the PHC wellness centers. Battelle provided technical assistance, training, program and policy evaluation expertise to help APHC evaluate and improve their readiness programs related to behavioral health outcomes resulting from CBRN and hazardous material exposure.

The primary purpose of the Agricultural Health Study is to assess the health effects of occupational exposures, particularly to pesticides, on farmers and their families. The study also examines other environmental, occupational, dietary, medical, lifestyle and genetic factors in relation to health in this population.

Regenerating spent GAC used to be costly and energy-intensive. Our experts set out to change that.

In the aftermath of 2010’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, Donna Karan, founder of the international fashion brand Donna Karan, visited Battelle and Greif in Columbus to observe the completion of work done by Battelle scientists who were able to expand color palette options for Haitian artisans of steel drums by offering better coatings and integrating a larger variety of pigments into their artistic process.

An agrochemical manufacturer was considering a new Chinese source for their compound. They contacted Battelle for a 5-batch study, which included a request to complete the development and validation of four draft methods for the analysis of the 15 known impurities in the original compound.

During the 80s and 90s, Battelle performed physical and chemical modeling to characterize PCB transport patterns. These models helped to inform the creation of the initial cleanup plan in 1998. Since then, Battelle has continued to provide support for field collection, laboratory analysis, database management and strategic planning under four USACE-NAE contracts.

When traces of oil are found in water, sediments, or biological tissues, how can you identify the sources? Agencies and oil companies need rapid, accurate and objective data in order to determine where hydrocarbons are coming from and distinguish between an accidental release and natural sources.

Battelle created Cantor Dust, a unique interactive software tool that renders binary files as images to speed the process of data-stream analysis. By translating binary information into a visual abstraction, reverse engineers and forensic analysts can sift through mountains of arbitrary data in seconds.

A police officer and his wife purchased French fries from a fast food restaurant. The officer recognized the person preparing the fries as someone he had arrested previously. The wife later noted that the French fries “smelled and tasted funny.” Battelle used sophisticated analytical and statistical methods to determine whether or not cleaning agents were present in French fries from a fast food restaurant

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requires premarket approval of all new tobacco products commercially marketed after Feb. 15, 2007—unless they are shown to be “substantially equivalent” to an existing tobacco product. Battelle conducted internal research to validate analytical methods to be used for characterization of tobacco products for purposes of demonstrating Substantial Equivalence.

When it comes to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), traditional water sampling methods suffer from a high potential for cross-contamination and result in large volumes of investigation-derived waste (IDW), which is difficult and expensive to dispose of and can lead to stockpiled waste. Battelle has come up with a solution to this challenge with our PFAS Insight® technology.

Little cigars have been rapidly growing in popularity, especially among younger smokers. However, their chemical composition has not been as well characterized as the composition of traditional cigarettes. Battelle researchers studied four popular little cigar products against four popular cigarette products in order to determine the new and distinctive exposures associated with little

Hackers steal data constantly, so protecting it is an ongoing challenge. Today’s information encryption technology has been compromised and will be obsolete in just a few years. In 2013, Battelle installed the first commercial QKD system in the U.S., connecting our headquarters in Columbus, Ohio to our production facility in Dublin, Ohio. The QKD hardware used in this link is the Cerberis model from ID Quantique.