Public Health Preparedness: Action Needed to Address National and Biosecurity Risks Associated with Disposal of Federal Laboratory Equipment

Filed 1h ago · Via GAO · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Covert Affair

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Daan Noske / Anefo · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons

GAO found HHS and USDA sold 1,316 pieces of surplus lab equipment from fiscal 2022-2025, including nine items on the Commerce Control List, freeze dryers and mass spectrometers that could aid biological weapons development, sold to buyers in the U.S. and Canada, some apparent resellers.

Neither agency reported those nine controlled items to the General Services Administration as required, partly because HHS policy doesn't address the requirement and GSA's system has no standard field to flag it.

To test the system, GAO investigators used fictitious identities, including a fake nonprofit, and successfully acquired four pieces of equipment that experts said could pose a biosecurity risk; GAO found neither agency has assessed these risks as part of its disposal process.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

GAO bought four pieces of risky lab gear with made-up names and a pretend nonprofit, which is about as hard as buying a lawnmower at an estate sale. The agencies never told GSA about the controlled items, partly because the form had no box for it. If the only thing standing between a freeze dryer and a bioweapon is a missing checkbox, somebody ought to add the checkbox this week.

Source: Read the original at GAO → Scored: Covert Affair · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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