New ASTM Standard Provides Limited Tool For Assessing Vapor Intrusion Risks

Environmental regulators across the country have been scrambling to establish guidance for investigating and addressing an exposure pathway they had not previously considered in setting cleanup standards – vapor intrusion.

Vapor intrusion occurs when volatile contaminants migrate from contaminated groundwater or soil to the indoor air of a building. The most common vapor intrusion cases involve either petroleum contaminants or chlorinated solvents such as tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene. These substances may have found their way into soil or groundwater from leaking underground storage tanks, spills, or buried waste. Vapor intrusion does not encompass other instances of indoor air contamination, such as exposure to asbestos, mold, or other potentially hazardous building conditions.