As part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Underground Transport Restoration (UTR) project, several federal agencies conducted a scientific study to evaluate methyl bromide (MB) as a fumigant for decontaminating subway railcars contaminated with Bacillus anthracis (Ba) using Ba Sterne strain spores. In conjunction with the DHS, EPA, Sandia National Laboratories, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory participated in the fumigation of a subway railcar using MB in July 2015.

The study was designed to evaluate the operational aspects and the efficacy of MB for inactivating surrogate Ba spores on the subway railcar.

• Subway Railcar Decontamination with Methyl Bromide (PDF)(83 pp, 3 MB, March 2017)