For more information on Vapor Intrusion, please contact:
Technology Integration and Information Branch
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Vapor Intrusion
Overview
- Overview
- Policy and Guidance
- Site Investigation Tools
- Mitigation
- Community Engagement
- Conferences and Training
Vapor intrusion is the general term given to migration of hazardous vapors from any subsurface contaminant source, such as contaminated soil or groundwater or contaminated conduit, into an overlying building or unoccupied structure via any opening or conduit. Vapor-forming chemicals that potentially can provide subsurface sources for vapor intrusion into buildings include, for example, chlorinated hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons, and other types of both halogenated and non-halogenated volatile organic compounds (VOCs). (See also EPA's Vapor Intrusion Webpage)
Radon Gas
Radon, a colorless, odorless gas, is formed from the decay of radium, a radioactive element that occurs naturally in the bedrock and soil. It may also arise from uranium- or radium-bearing solid wastes in the subsurface. Migration of radon into a dwelling is a specific kind of vapor intrusion, though many of the approaches developed to mitigate the broader issue of vapor intrusion apply to radon as well. Radon poses a threat to the health of building occupants once the gas migrates at high enough levels from soil and rock into homes and the work place. For more information on health risks, as well as detecting and mitigating radon in homes and businesses, visit EPA’s radon page.
In extreme cases, the vapors may accumulate in homes and other occupied buildings to levels that may pose near-term safety hazards (e.g., explosion), acute health effects, or odor problems. Typically, however, the chemical concentration levels with vapor intrusion are low, and the odor unnoticeable. Depending on site-specific conditions, the vapors may not be present at concentrations detectable by analytical instruments. In buildings with low concentrations of volatile chemicals, the main concern is whether or not the chemicals pose an unacceptable risk of chronic health effects due to long-term exposure to these low levels. A complicating factor in evaluating the potential risk from chemical exposure due to vapor intrusion is the common presence of some of the same chemicals from sources with the building (e.g., household solvents and paints, gasoline, drycleaned clothing, and cleaning agents) that may pose, separately or in combination with vapor intrusion, a significant human health risk.
Figure 1 illustrates a simple conceptual model of the vapor intrusion pathway the upward movement of vapors from a soil and groundwater source toward and into buildings.
Vapor intrusion is a standard consideration during investigations at hazardous waste sites, especially those related to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); underground storage tanks (USTs); and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or “Superfund”).
Review of Recent Research on Vapor Intrusion
Fred D. Tillman and James Weaver, U.S. EPA National Exposure Research Laboratory
EPA/600/R-05/106, 47 pp, September 2005.
Reviews research in the area of vapor intrusion of organic compounds into residential buildings including challenges in evaluating the subsurface-to-indoor air pathway, fate and transport mechanisms affecting vapors, Federal regulations and proposed guidance, site studies published in scientific literature, and published approaches to modeling.
Petroleum Vapor Intrusion Compendium
U.S. EPA, Office of Underground Storage Tanks website, 2011
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Underground Storage Tanks (2011) has prepared this online resource with vapor-intrusion literature lists related to petroleum releases and cleanup.
Petroleum Hydrocarbons And Chlorinated Hydrocarbons Differ In Their Potential For Vapor Intrusion
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 pp, September 2011.
Discusses and compares petroleum vapor intrusion (PVI) and chlorinated solvent vapor intrusion with respect to processes that influence whether and how vapors can migrate through vadose zone materials into buildings and other confined spaces as well as some implications for addressing PVI.
