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The use of measured volatile organic chemical (VOC) concentrations in indoor air to evaluate vapor intrusion is complicated by (i) indoor sources of the same VOCs and (ii) temporal variability in vapor intrusion. This study evaluated the efficacy of utilizing induced negative and positive building pressure conditions during a vapor intrusion investigation program to provide an improved understanding of the potential for vapor intrusion. Pressure control was achieved in five of six buildings where the investigation program was tested. For these five buildings, the induced pressure differences were sufficient to control the flow of soil gas through the building foundation. A comparison of VOC concentrations in indoor air measured during the negative and positive pressure test conditions was sufficient to determine whether vapor intrusion was the primary source of VOCs in indoor air at these buildings. The study results indicate that sampling under controlled building pressure can help minimize ambiguity caused by both indoor sources of VOCs and temporal variability in vapor intrusion.

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Temporal and spatial measurements of the toxicity (EC50), chemical speciation, and complexation capacity (Cu-CC) of copper in waters from San Diego Bay suggest control of the Cu-CC over copper bioavailability. While spatial distributions of total copper (CuT) indicate an increase in concentration from the mouth toward the head of San Diego Bay, the distribution of aqueous free copper ion (Cu(II)aq) shows the opposite trend. This suggests that the bioavailability of copper to organisms decreases toward the head of the bay, and is corroborated by the increase in the amount of copper needed to reach an EC50, observed for larval stages of three marine invertebrates (Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, sand dollar, Dendraster excentricus, and purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), and by the increase in Cu-CC heading into the head of the bay. The amount of Cu(II)aq required to produce a 50% reduction in normal larval development (referred to here as pCuTox,) of the mussel, the most sensitive of the three marine invertebrates, was generally at or above approximately 1 x 10(-11) mol L(-1) equivalents of Cu (i.e., pCuTox approximately 11 = -(log [Cu(II)aq])). These results suggest that the copper complexation capacity in San Diego Bay controls copper toxicity by keeping the concentration of Cu(II)aq at nontoxic levels.

Distinguishing between vapor intrusion and indoor sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a significant challenge in conventional vapor intrusion assessments. For this research project, the authors developed a step-by-step protocol to streamline building-specific investigations by using on-site gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis and building pressure manipulation to determine the source of VOCs in indoor air during a 1-day field investigation. Protocol validation included implementation in industrial buildings and testing alongside conventional methods. The new protocol compares favorably to conventional approaches, yielding more definitive results in less time. This article presents three case studies which illustrate application of the protocol.

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