For more information on Vapor Intrusion, please contact:
Michael AdamTechnology Integration and Information Branch
PH: (703) 603-9915 | Email: adam.michael@epa.gov
Vapor Intrusion
Accelerating the Redevelopment of a Vapor-Impacted Property Based on Data-Informed Verification of Vapor Barrier Technology
Lowe, J., J. Raphael, L. Lund, and R. Casselberry Jr.
AWMA Vapor Intrusion Conference 2009. Air and Waste Management Association, ISBN: 9781615670451, Vol 2 No 180 CP, p 1026-1057, 2009
A cold-spray applied vapor barrier equipped with an overlying monitoring layer has been installed as part of an integrated commercial redevelopment, demonstrating protection of human health without the need for indoor air sampling. Over 50 years of manufacturing at the site resulted in VOC impacts to soil and groundwater. Remedial measures included excavating source area soil, air sparging/soil vapor extraction (AS/SVE) in overburden and weathered bedrock groundwater, and monitored natural attenuation for deeper bedrock groundwater. To accelerate redevelopment, a vapor barrier system that incorporated a venting layer beneath and a monitoring layer above the barrier was constructed using components manufactured by CETCO Liquid Boot¨. The passive venting layer was designed to allow active venting, if needed, to reduce vapor concentrations. Sampling is performed periodically from several ports installed as part of the monitoring layer to verify the barrier's effectiveness. Contingency plans were developed to perform active venting and modified remediation operations, including temporarily ceasing AS and conducting enhanced SVE if sampling indicated that vapors were penetrating the barrier at concentrations above action levels. Multiple rounds of monitoring have demonstrated the effectiveness of the vapor barrier and contingency plan.
Brownfields Technology Primer: Vapor Intrusion Considerations for Redevelopment
This primer is designed for land revitalization stakeholders concerned about vapor intrusion, including property owners, municipalities, and real estate developers. It provides an overview of the vapor intrusion issue and how it can affect redevelopment. It also summarizes techniques for quickly and cost effectively assessing the potential for vapor intrusion, as well as techniques for mitigating it. The topics covered will familiarize stakeholders with options for addressing vapor intrusion to help them communicate with their project contractors and consultants.
Design Solutions for Vapor Intrusion and Indoor Air Quality
This fact sheet provides an overview of technical and health issues regarding chemical vapor intrusion into indoor air, and how to address these issues to foster land redevelopment.
Detailed Field Investigation of Vapor Intrusion Processes (ESTCP, 2008)
Vapor intrusion site investigations have been completed at three buildings located at two demonstrations sites and the results have been used to generate procedural guidelines for reliable evaluation of vapor intrusion presented in Section 4.6 of this report. Permanent and reusable monitoring systems remain in place at the two study sites to facilitate future resampling and reuse for continued development, demonstration, and validation of an improved conceptual model and predictive tools for the vapor intrusion pathway.
This handbook was developed by the Tri-Service Environmental Risk Assessment Work Group (TSERAWG) to serve as a resource for remedial project managers (RPMs) who may need to investigate the vapor intrusion pathway at Department of Defense (DoD) sites. The Tri-Services of the DoD include the Departments of the Air Force, Army, and Navy, with the Department of the Navy (DON) including both the Navy and the Marine Corps. This handbook was developed to support RPMs working on both active and closed Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps bases, as well as Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS). The handbook is intended to provide a general framework for conducting vapor intrusion investigations under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP). Both residential and occupational exposure scenarios are discussed since both groups can be affected by vapor intrusion.
Engineering Issue: Indoor Air Vapor Intrusion Mitigation Approaches
The purpose of this document is to present the "state of the science" regarding management and treatment of vapor intrusion into building structures. Wherever feasible, this information relies on independently reviewed mitigation performance information. In an effort to keep this Engineering Issue paper concise, important information is summarized, while references and Web links are provided for readers interested in additional information; these Web links, verified as accurate at the time of publication, are subject to change. Although we have endeavored to make these links fully functional with a mouse click, if they do not function on your system, you may need to copy them into your browser or reenter them. As science and technology associated with this route of exposure continues to develop, other mitigation measures may become available.
Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) Ongoing Projects
- Application of Advanced Sensor Technology to DoD Soil Vapor Intrusion Problems (ER-0702)
- Detailed Field Investigation of Vapor Intrusion Processes (ER-0423)
- Development of More Cost-effective Methods for Long-term Monitoring of Soil Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air Using Quantitative Passive Diffusive-Adsorptive Sampling Techniques (ER-0830)
- Protocol for Tier 2 Evaluation of Vapor Intrusion at Corrective Action Sites (ER 0707)
Evaluating Vapor Intrusion Using the Johnson and Ettinger Model
This on-line calculator implements the Johnson and Ettinger (J&E) (Johnson and Ettinger, 1991) simplified model to evaluate the vapor intrusion pathway into buildings. This J&E model replicates the implementation that the US EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) used in developing its draft vapor intrusion guidance, but includes a number of enhancements that are facilitated by web implementation: temperature dependence of Henry's Law Constants, automatic sensitivity analysis of certain parameters, and others described on the background page.
- Vapor Intrusion Pathway: A Practical Guide (VI-1) (3.0 MB/173pp/PDF)
- Vapor Intrusion Pathway: Investigative Approaches for Typical Scenarios (VI-2) (1.6 MB/52pp/PDF)
- Vapor Intrusion Pathway: A Practical Guideline: Archive of Mar 15, 2007 Seminar:
The ITRC Vapor Intrusion Team will research and gather information on indoor air as related to subsurface soil and groundwater contamination to determine when it may need to be evaluated, its resultant sampling and characterization techniques, and its subsequent remediation technologies.
Vapor Intrusion/Indoor Air Guidance Survey
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), 215 pp, 2010
MassDEP commissioned a national survey of available guidance and best practices for addressing VI concerns in other states, in addition to the guidance provided by EPA, ITRC, and ASTM. The project also encompassed research on commercially available contaminated soil vapor barrier products and their use. This report presents the results.
National Forum on Vapor Intrusion, January 12-13, 2009, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
U.S. EPA, Office of Science Policy, 2009
Summaries of the presentations and breakout sessions have been compiled in a final proceedings report, and the final proceedings, presentations, and posters are available on line.
In response to the need for future research and development on reducing high costs and uncertainties of VI assessment strategies, the objective of this report is to identify existing best practices, knowledge and data gaps, and future research into new strategies and techniques. This study was supported by the Navy Environmental Sustainability Development to Integration Program (NESDI) Program, as part of the study on Improved Strategies for Assessment of Vapor Intrusion, under direction by the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center Pacific.
This draft guidance is intended to aid in evaluating the potential for human exposure from the vapor intrusion pathway given the state-of-the-science.
User's Guide for Evaluating Subsurface Vapor Intrusion
into Buildings
This manual provides documentation and instructions for using the Johnson and Ettinger (J&E) vapor intrusion model.
Vapor Intrusion Guidance, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, July 2006
This document provides guidance for the evaluation and mitigation of vapor intrusion resulting from volatile organic compounds (VOC) at contaminated sites in New Hampshire. Where appropriate this document may be used in conjunction with applicable DES rules for corrective action at contaminated sites and the DES Risk Characterization and Management Policy (RCMP).
Vapor Intrusion Mitigation Advisory, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, April 2009
The mitigation alternatives described in the Advisory are response actions designed to interrupt or monitor the vapor intrusion pathway and ensure public safety until volatile chemical concentrations in soil, soil gas, and/or groundwater are confirmed to have been restored to concentrations at or below levels considered safe for human exposure. DTSC developed the Vapor Intrusion Mitigation Advisory primarily as a guide for DTSC staff. Other agencies, environmental consultants, responsible parties, community groups, and property developers may find the Advisory useful.
This directive presents the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovations's (OSRTI) guidance for making the operational and functional (O&F) determination for vapor intrusion (VI) mitigation systems which guides when these systems transfer to the State for operation and maintenance (O&M).
U.S. EPA Region 7, What You Should Know About Vapor Intrusion
EPA has developed this fact sheet to answer frequently asked questions about an important health issue known as vapor intrusion. Vapors and gases from contaminated groundwater and soil have the potential to seep into indoor spaces and cause health problems.
U.S. EPA's Vapor Intrusion Database: Preliminary Evaluation of Attenuation Factors—DRAFT
This report provides updated information about a database designed to store and analyze data collected at vapor intrusion sites (i.e., design, structure, and content) and some example analyses using data from the database that could be useful for regulators, responsible parties, and others assessing and managing vapor intrusion investigation programs.
Analysis of the volatile organic compound content of tree cores is an inexpensive, rapid, simple approach to examining the distribution of subsurface volatile organic compound contaminants. The method has been shown to detect several volatile petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated aliphatic compounds associated with vapor intrusion and ground-water contamination. Tree cores, which are approximately 3 inches long, are obtained by using an increment borer. The cores are placed in vials and sealed. After a period of equilibration, the cores can be analyzed by headspace analysis gas chromatography. Because the roots are exposed to volatile organic compound contamination in the unsaturated zone or shallow ground water, the volatile organic compound concentrations in the tree cores are an indication of the presence of subsurface volatile organic compound contamination. Thus, tree coring can be used to detect and map subsurface volatile organic compound contamination. For comparison of tree-core data at a particular site, it is important to maintain consistent methods for all aspects of tree-core collection, handling, and analysis. Factors affecting the volatile organic compound concentrations in tree cores include the type of volatile organic compound, the tree species, the rooting depth, ground-water chemistry, the depth to the contaminated horizon, concentration differences around the trunk related to variations in the distribution of subsurface volatile organic compounds, concentration differences with depth of coring related to volatilization loss through the bark and possibly other unknown factors, dilution by rain, seasonal influences, sorption, vapor-exchange rates, and within-tree volatile organic compound degradation.
Vapor Intrusion
U.S. Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Environmental Restoration Technology Transfer, Multimedia Training Tools Web site, 36 pp, May 2010
This interactive Web tool explores the basic concepts of VI, outlines VI policy and guidance, provides an overview of the VI assessment process, discusses sampling methods, and presents several case studies of VI investigations.
Vertical Distribution of VOCs in Soils from Groundwater to the Surface/Subslab
U.S. EPA, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Las Vegas, NV.
EPA 600-R-09-073, 326 pp, Aug 2009
A study was undertaken to assess the vertical and horizontal distribution of VOCs in the subsurface from groundwater to the surface/subslab environment, develop a database of paired macro-purge and micro-purge soil gas sample measurements, and evaluate the performance of passive diffusion samplers (PDSs) and a variety of soil gas probe construction materials (tubing types). The field study was conducted at site with chlorinated VOCs (mainly TCE) in soil, soil gas, and groundwater. The results of the investigation into the distribution of soil gas VOCs near a slab indicated that the presence of the slab may have a significant and abrupt impact on VOC concentrations in soil gas and the uppermost groundwater, with important implications for sample location selection in vapor intrusion studies. Evaluation of different tubing types indicates that stainless steel, Nylaflow, PEEK, and Teflon tubing are all suitable materials for probe construction, but polyethylene tubing should be avoided, and copper tubing is not suitable for soil gas probe construction.
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