National Cancer Institute, Research Contracts Branch, PSAS, 6120 Executive Blvd, EPS/Room 638, Bethesda, MD 20892-7227

B -- EXTRACTION AND CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF DUST SAMPLES FOR CONDUCTING A MULTI-CENTER CASE CONTOL STUDY OF RISK FACTORS FOR NON-HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA (NHL) SOL RFQ-NCI-80160-NV POC Debbie Moore, Purchasing Agent 301/402-4509, Todd Cole, Contracting Officer 301/402-4509 This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items, prepared in accordance with the format in FAR 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation and a separate written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation, No. RFQ-NCI-80160-NV will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through FAR FAC 97-04. The acquisition is being made in accordance with the test program for using simplified procedures for certain commercial items authorized in FAR 13.6. The solicitation is not set-aside for small businesses. However the Standard Industrial Classification Code is 3826 and the business size standard is 500 employees. BACKGROUND: The Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program (EBP), National Cancer Institute (NCI), is conducting a multicenter case-control study of risk factors for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). A total of 2,400 subjects will participate, 600 from each of four areas served by NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) centers (Los Angeles, Detroit, Iowa, and Seattle). Carpet dust samples will be collected from the homes of about 1,800 study participants over a period of about 30 months, and 1,200 of these samples will be analyzed for pesticides, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). NCI is searching for a laboratory to receive, sieve, and store the dust samples, and to determine the concentrations of pesticides, PAHs, and PCBs in 1,200 samples. Because there is no standard method for analyzing carpet dust samples for these constituents, and because methods differ among laboratories, it is essential that the work be performed by a single laboratory. This will assure that all study subjects' exposures are assessed on an equivalent basis, which is crucial to the integrity of the relative risk analysis. I. BASE PERIOD: The base period will begin in October 1998 and end in September 1999. During this period, we anticipate that 975 to 1,075 samples will be collected. To collect the dust samples, SEER center interviewers will visit the subject's home and remove the used bag from the subject's vacuum cleaner. The interviewer will place the used bag in a sealable plastic bag labelled with a bar code containing the subject's study identification number. The sealed bag will be placed in a styrofoam container. The sample will be shipped to the Contractor laboratory in these styrofoam containers. Batching of samples is unlikely. The styrofoam container will contain a form with the sample's bar code (which the laboratory shall have the capability to scan), the date the sample was collected, and the date the styrofoam container was shipped to the laboratory. Prior to shipment, the interviewer will FAX the form to the laboratory to inform the laboratory to expect the shipment. Upon receipt of the shipment, the laboratory shall sign and date the enclosed form and FAX it to NCI's Coordinating Center. If the container is not received when expected, the laboratory shall call the Coordinating Center. The laboratory shall sieve the dust, retaining only the fine fraction (<150um), and store enough of the fine fraction for subsequent extractions, chemical analyses, and quality control procedures, plus an additional 10g (if available). Dust that is not retained for storage may be discarded. It is not necessary to sieve all of the dust in the used bag; the laboratory may sample portions of unsieved dust from different locations in the used bag such that the dust retained for sieving and storage is representative of the entire contents of the bag. The sieved samples shall be labelled and stored in an appropriate container at 4 degrees Centigrade (or cooler). The laboratory shall conduct extractions and chemical analyses of 400 samples to be identified by NCI between November 1998 and September 1999. The results shall be available no later than six weeks after the specific samples to be analyzed are identified by NCI. The laboratory shall determine the concentrations of the following constituents in the carpet dust samples: alachlor, aldrin, atrazine, bendiocarb, carbaryl, alpha-chlordane, gamma-chlordane, chlorpyrifos, 2,4-D, dacthal, p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDT, diazinon, dicamba, dichlorvos, dicofol, dieldrin, heptachlor, lindane (gamma-BHC), malathion, MCPA, methoxychlor, pentachlorophenol, cis-permethrin, trans- permethrin, ortho-phenylphenol, propoxur, 2,4,5-T, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(ghi)perylene, benzo(a)pyrene, chrysene, coronene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene, dibenzo(a,e)pyrene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, PCB 105, PCB 126, PCB 138, PCB 153, PCB 170, and PCB 180. (A small number of analytes might be added later, but only if they have no effect on cost.) To accomplish this, the laboratory shall conduct two extractions per sample (one for neutral extractable analytes and one for acid extractable analytes), and the extracts shall be analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The analytical methods shall have the capability of detecting constituent levels on the order of 0.10 ug per g of dust for most analytes. For quality assurance purposes, the laboratory shall add recovery surrogates appropriate to cover the range of analytes to each sample prior to extraction, and shall add appropriate internal reference standards to extracts for identification and quantitation prior to analysis. In addition, the laboratory shall extract and analyze duplicate aliqouts of 10% of the dust samples, and the precision shall be 50% or better. Finally, the laboratory shall analyze duplicate aliquots of 10% of the extracts, and the precision shall be 20% or better. The laboratory shall report the results of the analyses to NCI's Coordinating Center electronicallly on a monthly basis using a diskette or modem. SUMMARY OF BASE PERIOD: Period of performance: 10/98 to 9/99 (12 months); Receive, sieve, and store samples: 975 to 1,075 samples; Neutral extraction and chemical analyses: 400 samples + 20 duplicates = 420 samples; Acid extraction and chemical analyses: 400 samples + 20 duplicates = 420 samples; Chemical analysis of duplicate extracts: 20 neutral extracts + 20 acid extracts = 40 extracts; Shipping: None. II. OPTION PERIODS: The laboratory shall receive, sieve, store, extract, and analyze additional samples, using the procedures described above, during each of the two option periods. At the end of the Option 2 period, all stored dust samples shall be shipped to a repository in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, the specific location of which will be designated by the NCI Project Officer 60 days prior to the end of the contract. The number of samples and specific tasks corresponding to each option period are as follows: OPTION 1: Period of performance: 10/99 to 9/00 (12 months); Receive, sieve, and store samples: 650 to 725 samples; Neutral extraction and chemical analyses: 400 samples + 20 duplicates = 420 samples; Acid extraction and chemical analyses: 400 samples + 20 duplicates = 420 samples; Chemical analysis of duplicate extracts: 20 neutral extracts + 20 acid extracts = 40; extracts; Shipping: None. OPTION 2 Period of performance: 10/00 to 9/01 (12 months); Receive, sieve, and store samples: 78 to 86 samples; Neutral extraction and chemical analyses: 400 samples + 20 duplicates = 420 samples; Acid extraction and chemical analyses: 400 samples + 20 duplicates = 420 samples; Chemical analysis of duplicate extracts: 20 neutral extracts + 20 acid extracts = 40 extracts; Shipping: 1,703 to 1,886 samples. PRICING: Pricing for this work shall be based on unit costs for five separate tasks: (1) receiving, sieving, and storing the dust samples; (2) extraction and GC/MS analysis for neutral extractable analytes, including quality control and reporting of results to NCI's Coordinating Center; (3) extraction and GC/MS analysis for acid extractable analytes, including quality control and reporting of results to NCI's Coordinating Center; (4) GC/MS analysis of duplicate extracts for quality control purposes; and (5) shipping of samples to repository. EVALUATION CRITERIA: The technical portion of quotations will receive paramount consideration in selecting a vendor. However, price will also be a significant factor in the event that two or more vendors are determined to be essentially equal following the evaluation of technical factors. In any event, the Government reserves the right to make award to the vendor whose offer provides the greatest overall value to the Government. Offers will be evaluated based on the following technical criteria: (1) Demonstration that proposed techniques for conducting extractions and analyses will meet the required detection capability and precision; (2) Experience in analyzing carpet dust samples for the full range of analytes identified, at the specified analytic detection limits; (3) Experience in analyzing carpet dust samples in a large-scale study with a comparable number of samples; and (4) Experience and qualifications of personnel. Interested offerors shall contact Debbie Moore for a MANDATORY Schedule of Work Elements for the Base and Option periods. PHONE: (301)-402-4509, FAX: (301)-402-4513. The Schedule of Work Elements must be fully completed and included with any offer that is to be considered. Offerors must provide a proposal, any descriptive literature, warranties, and/or other materials that demonstrate that their offer meets the foregoing requirements. The contract will be awarded to the responsible offeror with the lowest-price offer that fully meets the requirements of the solicitation. This solicitation incorporates the provisions at FAR 52.212-1, INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS-COMMERCIAL ITEMS, and at FAR 52.212-3, OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS. The latter provision includes the DUNS Number Addendum. The resulting contract will incorporate the requirements of the clause at FAR 52.212-4, CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS, and the requirements contained in paragraphs (a) and (d) of the clause at FAR 52.212-5, CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT STATUTES OR EXECUTIVE ORDERS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS -- DEVIATION FOR SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITIONS. The contract will also incorporate the following FAR clauses cited in paragraphs (b) and (c) of the latter clause: FAR 52.222-26, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY; FAR 52.222-35, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR SPECIAL DISABLED AND VIETNAM ERA VETERANS; FAR 52.222-36, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR HANDICAPPED WORKERS; and FAR 52.222.37, EMPLOYMENT REPORTS ON SPECIAL DISABLED VETERANS AND VETERANS OF VIETNAM ERA. Offers are due 30 days after the publication date of this notice at 3:00 p.m. EST. Facsimile submission is not authorized. Offers must be in writing and should be submitted as follows: (1) one original and two copies of a completed SF 1449, signed by an individual authorized to bind the organization; (2) a Schedule of Offered Supplies/Services containing pricing for the system being offered, published price lists (if applicable), and a delivery schedule; (3) completed Representations and Certifications—Commercial Items, with DUNS Number addendum; (4) a proposal and any descriptive literature indicating that the offer meets the stated requirements; (5) acknowledgment of amendments, if any. The Representations and Certifications must be signed by an authorized representative of the offeror. Full text copies of the Representations and Certifications or other cited provisions and clauses may be obtained from Debbie Moore, Purchasing Agent, on (301) 402-4509 or by fax on (301) 402-4513. Offers and related materials must be submitted to Debbie Moore at the listed address. Offers that fail to furnish the required information or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration. Please cite the solicitation number on your offer. (0174)

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