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Vermont Ag & Environmental Lab expands testing, wins PFAS method 533 certification
Summary
The Vermont Agricultural and Environmental Laboratory in Randolph Center described expanded cyanotoxin testing, new PFAS method certification for drinking water, and other lab upgrades that increase the state’s capacity for water, food and agricultural testing.
Cheryl Achilles, director of the Vermont Agricultural and Environmental Laboratory, told the committee the laboratory serves both the Agency of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Conservation and provides analytical testing for water chemistry, cyanobacteria (harmful algal blooms), pesticides, tick pathogens, milk and dairy product safety, animal infectious disease, feed and fertilizer testing, and other public‑health and agricultural analyses.
Why it matters: Achilles said the lab expanded surface‑water cyanotoxin testing this summer to four algal‑bloom toxins and modified drinking‑water methods to give regulators more information. She told the committee the lab received EPA method 533 certification for PFAS in drinking water “as of yesterday,” enabling in‑state PFAS drinking‑water testing and broader support for DEC and public water systems.
The lab building houses roughly 35 staff in total and is co‑located at Vermont State University’s Randolph campus. Achilles said the lab plans to upgrade its laboratory information management system and to purchase an instrument that improves staff safety and eliminates an unsafe manual acid‑lifting task for total fiber analysis. The lab also supports tick‑pathogen surveillance (testing ticks for up to four pathogens), pesticide surveillance, milk testing for drug residues and pasteurization checks under FDA Grade A Appendix N, and works with universities on research testing.
Ending: Achilles invited committee questions and noted the lab’s new PFAS capability will help state-level monitoring and public‑health responses.
