Abstract:
To scientifically assess the vapor intrusion under the scenario of groundwater infiltration in the basement, benzene and trichloroethylene were selected as target pollutants. Groundwater exposure and indoor air concentration of VOCs were calculated by developing a conceptual model that considers groundwater fracture infiltration, pore infiltration, and evaporation in compliance with the
Technical Code for Waterproofing of Underground Works (GB 50108—2008) and the worst case scenarios. The indoor air concentrations of pollutants were compared with the results calculated by
Technical Guidelines for Risk Assessment of Soil Contamination of Land for Construction (HJ 25.3-2019). The results suggested that: (1) When the distance from the groundwater table to the basement floor was 25-200 cm, the fracture infiltration and the pore infiltration was 3.86-37.7 and 1.55×10
−4-2.35×10
−3 m
3/d, respectively. The evaporation rate in compliance with the GB 50108—2008 and in the worst case scenario was 2.30×10
−3 and 0.30-0.52 m
3/d, respectively. For the same distance from the groundwater table to the basement floor, fracture infiltration was about 15,000-25,000 times that of pore infiltration. After comparing the amount of infiltration and evaporation under different scenarios, the evaporation was recommended as the groundwater volume of exposure under the reasonable assumption that all groundwater can evaporate after infiltration in a steady-state. (2) The indoor air concentrations of benzene and trichloroethylene were consistent under the groundwater infiltration in the basement model. The concentration was 1.25×10
−3 mg/m
3 when evaporation in compliance with the GB 50108—2008 and it was 0.16-0.28 mg/m
3 when evaporation under the most unfavorable scenario. Under the HJ 25.3-2019 recommended exposure model, the indoor air concentrations of benzene and trichloroethylene were 7.01×10
−4-7.21×10
−4 mg/m
3 and 9.52×10
−4-9.80×10
−4 mg/m
3, respectively. In the scenario of groundwater evaporation in compliance with the GB 50108—2008 and the worst case, the indoor air concentrations calculated by the groundwater infiltration model were about 1-2 times and 100-400 times that of those calculated by the HJ 25.3-2019 recommended exposure model, respectively. The results indicated that when conducting risk assessments in areas with shallow groundwater tables, it is necessary to consider the exposure of groundwater infiltration in the basement scenario instead of using the guideline model directly, which could underestimate the actual health risk from contaminated groundwater.