Yijun Yao

A review of vapor intrusion models.

A complete vapor intrusion (VI) model, describing vapor entry of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) into buildings located on contaminated sites, generally consists of two main parts: one part describing vapor transport in the soil and the other describing its entry into the building. Modeling the soil vapor transport part involves either analytically or numerically solving the equations of vapor advection and diffusion in the subsurface. Contaminant biodegradation must often also be included in this simulation, and can increase the difficulty of obtaining a solution, especially when explicitly considering coupled oxygen transport and consumption. The models of contaminant building entry pathway are often coupled to calculations of indoor air contaminant concentration, and both are influenced by building construction and operational features. The description of entry pathway involves consideration of building foundation characteristics, while calculation of indoor air contaminant levels requires characterization of building enclosed space and air exchange within this. This review summarizes existing VI models, and discusses the limits of current screening tools commonly used in this field.

Status, Influences and Risk Assessment of Hexachlorocyclohexanes in Agricultural Soils Across China

Large amounts of hexaclorocyclohexanes (HCHs) were historically applied to Chinese soils. However, there has been limited information on the residue patterns of HCHs in soils at a national scale in China. In this study, surface soil samples were collected from agricultural fields across China, and the concentrations of HCHs and enantiomeric fractions (EFs) of α-HCH were measured. The results showed that the average concentrations of α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, and total HCHs in Chinese agricultural soils were 0.190, 1.31, 0.236, and 1.74 ng g(-1), respectively. Residues of HCHs likely originated from past usage of technical HCHs. The isomers of α-HCH and γ-HCH tended to accumulate in the sites with lower total HCH concentrations, lower temperature, higher elevation, and less wet precipitation when compared to β-HCH. Enantiomeric analysis showed a preferential degradation of (-)-α-HCH. Human health risks via various exposure routes to HCHs in soils were further estimated. Overall, the mean hazard index (HI) linked to noncarcinogenic risks was below 1, suggesting an absence of noncarcinogenic risks of HCHs in Chinese soils. In addition, the cancer risk values were all below 10(-4), which indicates low or very low risks.

Comparison of the Johnson-Ettinger Vapor Intrusion Screening Model Predictions with Full Three-Dimensional Model Results

The Johnson-Ettinger vapor intrusion model (J-E model) is the most widely used screening tool for evaluating vapor intrusion potential because of its simplicity and convenience of use. Since its introduction about twenty years ago, the J-E model has become a cornerstone in guidance related to the potential for significant vapor intrusion-related exposures. A few papers have been published that claim it is a conservative predictor of exposure, but there has not been a systematic comparison in the open literature of the J-E model predictions with the results of more complete full three-dimensional descriptions of the phenomenon. In this paper, predictions from a three-dimensional model of vapor intrusion, based upon finite element calculations of homogeneous soil scenarios, are directly compared with the results of the J-E model. These results suggest that there are conditions under which the J-E model predictions might be quite reasonable but that there are also others in which the predictions are low as well as high. Some small modifications to the J-E model are also suggested that can bring its predictions into excellent agreement with those of the much more elaborate 3-D models, in some specific cases of homogeneous soils. Finally, both models were compared with actual field data.

Estimation of contaminant subslab concentration in vapor intrusion

This study is concerned with developing a method to estimate subslab perimeter crack contaminant concentration for structures built atop a vapor source. A simple alternative to the widely-used but restrictive one-dimensional (1-D) screening models is presented and justified by comparing to predictions from a three-dimensional (3-D) CFD model. A series of simulations were prepared for steady-state transport of a non-biodegradable contaminant in homogenous soil for different structure construction features and site characteristics. The results showed that subslab concentration does not strongly depend on the soil diffusivity, indoor air pressure, or foundation footprint size. It is determined by the geometry of the domain, represented by a characteristic length which is the ratio of foundation depth to source depth. An extension of this analytical approximation was developed for multi-layer soil cases.

Examination of the influence of environmental factors on contaminant vapor concentration attenuation factors using the U.S. EPA's vapor intrusion database.

Those charged with the responsibility of estimating the risk posed by vapor intrusion (VI) processes have often looked to information contained in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)s VI database for insight. Indoor air concentration attenuation factors have always been a key focus of this database, but the roles of different environmental factors in these attenuation processes are still unclear. This study aims to examine the influences of these factors in the context of the information in the VI database. The database shows that the attenuation factors vary over many orders of magnitude and that no simple statistical fluctuation around any typical mean value exists. Thus far, no simple explanation of this phenomenon has been presented. This paper examines various possible contributing factors to the enormous range of observed values, looking at which ones can plausibly contribute to explaining them.

Estimation of Contaminant Subslab Concentration in Vapor Intrusion Including Lateral Source-Building Separation.

Most current vapor-intrusion screening models employ the assumption of a subsurface homogenous source distribution, and groundwater data obtained from nearby monitoring wells are usually taken to reflect the source concentration for several nearby buildings. This practice makes it necessary to consider the possible influence of lateral source-building separation. In this study, a new way to estimate subslab (nonbiodegradable) contaminant concentration is introduced that includes the influence of source offset with the help of a conformal transform technique. Results from this method are compared with those from a three-dimensional numerical model. Based on this newly developed method, a possible explanation is provided here for the great variation in the attenuation factors of the soil vapor concentrations of groundwater-to-subslab contaminants found in the EPA vapor-intrusion database.

Examination of the U.S. EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Database Based on Models

In the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)s vapor intrusion (VI) database, there appears to be a trend showing an inverse relationship between the indoor air concentration attenuation factor and the subsurface source vapor concentration. This is inconsistent with the physical understanding in current vapor intrusion models. This article explores possible reasons for this apparent discrepancy. Soil vapor transport processes occur independently of the actual building entry process and are consistent with the trends in the database results. A recent EPA technical report provided a list of factors affecting vapor intrusion, and the influence of some of these are explored in the context of the database results.

A two‐dimensional analytical model of petroleum vapor intrusion

In this study we present an analytical solution of a two-dimensional petroleum vapor intrusion model, which incorporates a steady-state diffusion-dominated vapor transport in a homogeneous soil and piecewise first-order aerobic biodegradation limited by oxygen availability. This new model can help practitioners to easily generate two-dimensional soil gas concentration profiles for both hydrocarbons and oxygen and estimate hydrocarbon indoor air concentrations as a function of site-specific conditions such as source strength and depth, reaction rate constant, soil characteristics and building features. The soil gas concentration profiles generated by this new model are shown in good agreement with three-dimensional numerical simulations and two-dimensional measured soil gas data from a field study. This implies that for cases involving diffusion dominated soil gas transport, steady state conditions and homogenous source and soil, this analytical model can be used as a fast and easy-to-use risk screening tool by replicating the results of 3-D numerical simulations but with much less computational effort.

A Petroleum Vapor Intrusion Model Involving Upward Advective Soil Gas Flow Due to Methane Generation

At petroleum vapor intrusion (PVI) sites at which there is significant methane generation, upward advective soil gas transport may be observed. To evaluate the health and explosion risks that may exist under such scenarios, a one-dimensional analytical model describing these processes is introduced in this study. This new model accounts for both advective and diffusive transport in soil gas and couples this with a piecewise first-order aerobic biodegradation model, limited by oxygen availability. The predicted results from the new model are shown to be in good agreement with the simulation results obtained from a three-dimensional numerical model. These results suggest that this analytical model is suitable for describing cases involving open ground surface beyond the foundation edge, serving as the primary oxygen source. This new analytical model indicates that the major contribution of upward advection to indoor air concentration could be limited to the increase of soil gas entry rate, since the oxygen in soil might already be depleted owing to the associated high methane source vapor concentration.

Modeling quantification of the influence of soil moisture on subslab vapor concentration.

The U.S. EPA has developed a database of field data obtained from vapor intrusion sites throughout the United States. Large variations in reported subsurface contaminant vapor concentration ratios (e.g. building subslab to groundwater source) present challenges for the analysis of subsurface vapor transport processes. Meanwhile, numerical models have been used by the U.S. EPA and others to describe the transport processes governing vapor intrusion. The influence of the capillary fringe has often been ignored in these models. In this manuscript, the influence of soil moisture content on the subslab vapor concentration is analyzed in the context of mathematical models. Results are compared to those from other modeling methods that do not account for the soil moisture content. The slab capping effect is observed to interact with the effect of soil moisture in determining the subslab contaminant vapor concentration. The slab capping effect is observed to be significant when the building-source separation distance is less than half of the slab size.