What Homeowners Need to Know About Vapor Intrusion

WHAT HOMEOWNERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VAPORR INTRUSION П1 WHAT IS VAPOR INTRUSION? Vapor Intrusion (VI) occurs when vapors and gases from contaminated soil and groundwater move through the soil and seep through cracks in any type of home or commercial building with a basement, slab-on-grade foundation or pier and beam/crawl-space foundation. ПП Vapor Intrusion through cracks in foundation slab. utility lines Vapor Intrusion through floor wall cracks. soil contaminated with Volatile Organic Chemicals groundwater plume of Volatile Organic Chemicals PEOPLE MOST AT RISK: PREGNANT/ NURSING PEOPLE WITH ELDERLY INFANTS CHILDREN AN ILLNESS HEALTH EFFECTS DEPEND ON THESE FACTORS: EXPOSURE TO CERTAIN CHEMICALS CAN CAUSE CANCER SENSITIVITY TO TYPE OF CHEMICALS LEVELS OF CHEMICALS LENGTH OF EXPOSURE HEALTH OF PERSON CHEMICAL WHERE DOES VAPOR INTRUSION COME FROM? VI comes from chemicals that readily evaporate and form vapors called "Volatile Organic Chemicals (VoCs)" VOCS can come from Gas Stations and Dry cleaners, as well as thousands of other releases from Manufacturing and Industry GAS DRY CLEANERS STATIONS $ $ $ leaking underground storage tanks typically from gas stations releases from dry cleaning operations OVER 121,000 NEARLY 40,000 GAS STATIONS IN THE US DRY-CLEANERS IN THE US HOW IS THE GOVERNMENT GETTING INVOLVED? ME WA VT MT ND NH MA MN OR NY WI ст SD RI ID MI WY PA NJ IA NE ОН DE MD IN NV IL wV VA UT CO KS MO KY CA NC TN OK HI AR SC AZ NM GA MI AL TX LA FL Vapor Intrusion Guidance States With VI Guidance States Without VI Guidance US EPA STRATEGY TO REDUCE VI HAZARD Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) & US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) formed initiative 1. Establishing Guidelines 2. Adoption of Guidelines 70% 3. Training Advancing Healthy Housing - A Strategy for Action 4. Educating Public & Americans spend 70% of their time at home. 5. Research for Advancement The EPA is Issuing Final Subsurface VI Guidance in 2013 WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS FOR VAPOR INTRUSION (VI)? Techniques for mitigating radon in indoor air are also used to mitigate Vapor Intrusion: INSTALL VAPOR CONTROL/ exhaust piping MITIGATION SYSTEMS Remove soil vapors below before they enter homes A fan Vapors are vented above the home where they become harmless Cracks in the foundation should be sealed to prevent vapors entering AVERAGE COST RANGE Once the source of vapors is eliminated the system will no longer be necessary $1,500- $5,000 vapors IS YOUR PROPERTY AS GREEN AS YOUR HOME? Using environmentally friendly products around your home is a wonderful way to reduce your risk of exposure to volatile chemicals, but is that enough? Be aware of what is in the land around your home. You could be exposed to Hazardous vapors without your knowledge. BE PROACTIVE And Find Out if Vapor Intrusion Might be a Concern for You. Visit http://landing.edrnet.com/NERoffer.html for a FREE Neighborhood Environmental Report. SOURCES http://www.epa.gov http://www.gsi-net.com Produced By In Partnership With http://www.newmoa.org http://www.clu-in.org http://www.itrcweb.org http://www.statisticbrain.com EDR® http://www.census.gov http://www.colorado.gov GHERGICH&Co.