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Evaluation of Vapor Intrusion Risk from Ethylene Dibromide Using the Vertical Screening Distance Approach

Vapor intrusion (VI) occurs when volatile contaminants in the subsurface migrate through the vadose zone into overlying buildings. The 2015 U.S. EPA petroleum VI guidance recommends that additional investigation of the VI risk from gasoline hydrocarbons at the underground storage tank (UST) sites is not necessary where the vertical distance between a building and a vapor source exceeds a recommended vertical screening distance. However, due to the lack of soil‐gas data on the attenuation of ethylene dibromide (EDB), additional VI investigations to evaluate VI risk from EDB are recommended at UST sites with leaded gasoline releases containing EDB. We analyzed soil‐gas and groundwater concentrations of EDB from eight petroleum UST sites using a new analytical method with soil‐gas detection limit <0.16 μg/m3 EDB (VI screening level at the 10−6 risk level). The analysis included (1) assessing the frequency of EDB detections ≤0.16 μg/m3 at various vertical separation distances and (2) predicting vertical screening distances for EDB using the U.S. EPA PVIScreen model for different soil types in the vadose zone above dissolved‐phase and LNAPL sources. Ranges of estimated aerobic biodegradation rate constants for EDB, air exchange rates for residential buildings, and source vapor concentrations for other constituents were combined with conservative estimates of EDB source concentrations as model inputs. Concentrations of EDB in soil‐gas indicated that the U.S. EPA recommended vertical screening distances are protective of VI risk from EDB. Conversely, vertical screening distances predicted by modeling were >6 ft (1.8 m) for sites with sand and loam soil above dissolved phase sources and >15 ft (4.6 m) for sites with sand soil above LNAPL sources. This predicted dependence on the vapor source type and soil type in the vadose zone highlights the importance of soil characterization for VI screening at sites with EDB sources.