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EPA's Vapor Intrusion Database: Evaluation and Characterization of Attenuation, Factors for Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compo

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EPA's Vapor Intrusion Database: Evaluation and Characterization of Attenuation, Factors for Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compo EPA 530-R-10-002 March 16, 2012 EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Database: Evaluation and Characterization of Attenuation Factors for Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compounds and Residential Buildings Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20460 March 16, 2012 EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Database [This page intentionally left blank.] ii March 16, 2012 EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Database Disclaimer This document presents technical information regarding the concentrations of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in and underneath North American buildings that have been investigated for potential vapor intrusion. This document does not confer legal rights, impose legal obligations, or implement any statutory or regulatory provisions. This document does not change or substitute for any statutory or regulatory provisions. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) personnel (and others) are free to use and accept other technically sound information, either on their own initiative, or at the suggestion of responsible parties or other interested parties. Interested parties are free to raise questions and objections about the appropriateness of the information presented in this document. Finally, this is a living document and may be updated periodically. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. iii March 16, 2012 EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Database Authors and Contributors The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), Washington, DC, was responsible for the preparation of EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Database: Evaluation and Characterization of Attenuation Factors for Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compounds and Residential Building. Dr. Helen E. Dawson, Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI), OSWER, served as the principal author, with Dr. Richard B. Kapuscinski, OSRTI, OSWER, as coauthor. The authors wish to acknowledge the important contributions of Dr. Henry Schuver, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, OSWER, EPA, who provided additional analyses and suggestions for this technical report. Preparatory support was provided by RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, with Robert Truesdale serving as Project Leader. iv March 16, 2012 EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Database Table of Contents Disclaimer ...................................................................................................................................... iii Authors and Contributors ............................................................................................................... iv List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................................. xi 1.0 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................1 1.2 Report Content and Purpose .......................................................................................2 1.3 Report Development and Peer Review .......................................................................2 1.4 Report Organization ....................................................................................................2 2.0 Database Development ........................................................................................................3 2.1 Database Structure ......................................................................................................3 2.2 Data Entry Criteria ......................................................................................................3 2.3 Database Contents .......................................................................................................4 2.4 Data Limitations ..........................................................................................................5 3.0 Vapor Attenuation Factors ...................................................................................................9 3.1 Factors Influencing Empirical Vapor Attenuation Estimations ................................10 3.2 Spatial and Temporal Variability ..............................................................................10 3.3 Background Indoor Air Concentrations ....................................................................15 3.4 Handling Data Below Reporting Limits ...................................................................21 4.0 Attenuation Factor Screening: Criteria and Results ...........................................................22 4.1 Screening for Chlorinated Hydrocarbons and Residential Settings— CHC in Residences Screen .....................................................................................................23 4.2 Identifying Chemicals of Site-Specific Concern—Subsurface Concentration Screen ........................................................................................................................23 4.3 Identifying the Presence of Indoor Sources of VOCs—Data Consistency Screen ........................................................................................................................24 4.4 Identifying Empirical Attenuation Factors Minimally Biased by Background Contributions.............................................................................................................26 4.4.1 Identifying Indoor Air Concentrations Above Typical Background Levels—Indoor Air Screen ...........................................................................27 4.4.2 Identifying Appropriately High Subsurface Vapor Concentrations— Source Strength Screen .................................................................................28 4.5 Application of Screening Criteria to the Database ...................................................29 4.5.1 Subslab Soil Gas Data ...................................................................................30 4.5.2 Groundwater Data .........................................................................................36 4.5.3 Exterior Soil Gas Data ..................................................................................41 4.5.4 Crawlspace Data ...........................................................................................45 5.0 Discussion of Findings .......................................................................................................49 5.1 Subslab Soil Gas-to-Indoor-Air Attenuation Factors ...............................................49 5.2 Groundwater-to-Indoor-Air Attenuation Factors ......................................................56 v March 16, 2012 EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Database 5.3 Exterior Soil-Gas-to-Indoor-Air Attenuation Factors ...............................................61 5.4 Crawlspace-to-Indoor-Air Attenuation Factors ........................................................64 6.0 Summary and Conclusions ................................................................................................66 6.1 Subslab Soil Gas Attenuation Factors.......................................................................68 6.2 Groundwater Attenuation Factors .............................................................................68 6.3 Exterior Soil Gas Attenuation Factors ......................................................................69 6.4 Crawlspace Attenuation Factors ...............................................................................70 7.0 Citations and References ....................................................................................................71 Appendices Appendix A – Peer Review Report Appendix B – Vapor Intrusion Database Structure Documentation Appendix C – Vapor Intrusion Database Site Information Appendix D – Correcting the Henry’s Law Constant for Groundwater Temperature List of Tables Number Page 1. Summary of information in EPA’s vapor intrusion database. .............................................6 2. Summary statistics for background indoor air concentrations of common VOCs measured in North American residences between 1990 and 2005 (all concentrations expressed in μg/m3) (EPA, 2011a). ...........................................................17 3. Indoor air concentrations in residences at sites included in EPA’s vapor intrusion database. .............................................................................................................................19 4. Number of attenuation factors remaining after each successive data-screening step. ....................................................................................................................................23 5. Upper-end background indoor air concentrations of common VOCs measured in North American residences between 1990 and 2005 used to screen EPA’s vapor intrusion database. ..............................................................................................................28 6. Descriptive statistics of subslab soil gas attenuation factor distributions after application of various database screens. ............................................................................31 7. Descriptive statistics of groundwater attenuation factor distributions after application of various database screens. ............................................................................37 8.
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