Exposure assessment modeling for volatiles--towards an Australian indoor vapor intrusion model

Abstract

Human health risk assessment of sites contaminated by volatile hydrocarbons involves site-specific evaluations of soil or groundwater contaminants and development of Australian soil health-based investigation levels (HILs). Exposure assessment of vapors arising from subsurface sources includes the use of overseas-derived commercial models to predict indoor air concentrations. These indoor vapor intrusion models commonly consider steady-state assumptions, infinite sources, limited soil biodegradation, negligible free phase, and equilibrium partitioning into air and water phases to represent advective and diffusive processes. Regional model construct influences and input parameters affect model predictions while steady-state assumptions introduce conservatism and jointly highlight the need for Australian-specific indoor vapor intrusion assessment. An Australian non-steady-state indoor vapor intrusion model has been developed to determine cumulative indoor human doses (CIHDs) and to address these concerns by incorporating Australian experimental field data to consider mixing, dilution, ventilation, sink effects and first-order soil and air degradation. It was used to develop provisional HILs for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), naphthalene, and volatile aliphatic and aromatic total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) < or = EC16 fractions for crawl space dwellings. This article summarizes current state of knowledge and discusses proposed research for differing exposure scenarios based on Australian dwelling and subsurface influences, concurrent with sensitivity analyses of input parameters and in-field model validation.