A Review of Recent Vapor Intrusion Modeling Work

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reviews vapor intrusion modeling studies published in the last decade (2010–2020). Compared to research carried out in the late 1990s and the early 2000s that was mainly focused on basic vapor transport phenomena and attenuation in the subsurface, the topics addressed in recent years focused on more complex scenarios, including the blocking effect of building footprint and surface pavements, soil and source heterogeneity, the role of capillary fringe, weather conditions such as rain, indoor–outdoor pressure differences, and temperature, building features, screening distances, and building pressure cycling. A brief description of these models and the main findings are reported in this paper. Generally, recent modeling works give more care about the influence of natural factors, which are relatively easy to be quantified and included in the model. Much less attention was given to factors involving human activities, such as preferential pathways, indoor environment structure, and background sources. The latter, however, may play a key role in determining the exposure to people of concern at sites contaminated by volatile contaminants. Thus, future modeling studies should be oriented to address these issues.