Vapor intrusion is estimated to be a potential concern at thousands of hazardous waste sites throughout the United States; and many hundreds of thousands of Americans may be experiencing increased exposure risks as a result of living near these sites. This problem is further complicated by recent evidence suggesting the existence of “alternative pathways” for vapor intrusion, such as sewers that connect subsurface gases to indoor air spaces.  The problem of vapor intrusion and the sewer gas to indoor air pathway is not unique to the United States.  Other locations across the globe, such as China, Europe and Australia have shown this problem to also be a concern in their geographic locations.<br/> <br/>The costs associated with reducing vapor intrusion exposures are related to both assessment and mitigation.  Research funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program (SRP) has shown that by accurately assessing alternative pathways for vapor intrusion exposure risks mitigation and assessment costs can be reduced.  The results of field studies will be presented and a summary of cost comparisons for datasets that did not accurately account for alternative pathways will be presented. At some sites, alternative pathways were not accurately assessed using SRP research recommended methods. In these cases, mitigation systems were installed that did not protect against human health risks. Cheaper and more health-protective remedies could have been selected, if SRP research methods had been used.  Field study results will also be presented to show how SRP research assessment methods for vapor intrusion can inform city planning using cost-effective measures for property redevelopment.<br/>

Economic impact of accurately assessing vapor intrusion exposure risks at hazardous waste sites

254th National Meeting (2017)

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