• Risk Assessment of Volatile Organic Compounds for Vapor Intrusion Pathway Using Various Estimation Methodology of Indoor Air Concentration
  • Jung, Jae-Woong;Nam, Taekwoo;Nam, Kyoungphile;
  • Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University;Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University;Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University;
  • 다양한 실내 침투 휘발물질 농도 예측 방법을 이용한 토양오염물질의 실내흡입 위해성평가
  • 정재웅;남택우;남경필;
  • 서울대학교 건설환경공학부;서울대학교 건설환경공학부;서울대학교 건설환경공학부;
Abstract
Indoor inhalation of vapors intruded into buildings is an important exposure pathway in volatile organic compoundscontaminated sites. Site-specifically measured indoor air concentration is preferentially used for risk assessment. However, when indoor air concentration of VOC is not measured, the indoor air concentration needs to be estimated from soil concentration or measured soil gas concentration of the VOC. Some risk assessment guidance (e.g., Korea Ministry of Environment (KMOE) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International guidance) estimate the indoor air concentration from soil concentration while other guidances (e.g., United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Dutch National Institute for Public Health (RIVM)) estimate it from measured soil gas concentration. This study derived indoor inhalation risks of intruded benzene in two benzene-contaminated residential areas with four different risk assessment guidances (i.e., KMOE, USEPA, ASTM, and Dutch RIVM) and compared the derived risks. The risk assessment results revealed that indoor air estimation approach from soil concentration could either underestimate (when the contaminant is not detected in soil) or overestimate (when the contaminant is detected in soil even at negligible concentration) the indoor air inhalation risk. Hence, this paper recommends to estimate indoor air concentration from soil gas concentration, rather than soil concentration. Discussions about the various indoor air concentration estimation approaches are provided.

Keywords: Risk assessment;Vapor intrusion;Volatile organic compounds;Indoor inhalation;

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This Article

  • 2015; 20(4): 51-65

    Published on Aug 31, 2015

  • 10.7857/JSGE.2015.20.4.051
  • Received on Apr 29, 2015
  • Revised on Jul 3, 2015
  • Accepted on Jul 3, 2015