Smaller chemical testing firms reportedly hope to capitalize on new concerns over a common solvent.
Bloomberg reports that environmental authorities across the country are worried that trichloroethylene could move from groundwater plumes beneath brownfield or Superfund sites into the nearby soil and air.
Trichloroethylene, or TCE, is primarily used to make refrigerant chemicals but is also used in metal degreasing and dry cleaning. The chemical is a carcinogen and is linked to a wide range of additional human health problems; more recently, concerns surfaced about its effects on pregnant women and their babies even in short-term exposure.
Federal and state agencies are increasingly turning to smaller companies to help monitor air quality for short-term jumps in TCE levels.
One such firm, California-based Entanglement Technologies, indicated that previously available technology was unable to detect a range of TCE concentrations and took too long to analyze in laboratories.
The financial benefits to those firms could be substantial. One official from consulting giant CH2M told Bloomberg contaminated sites could number in the "thousands, maybe tens of thousands" throughout the U.S.