Soil-Gas Contamination and Entry of Volatile Organic Compounds into a House Near a Landfill

Abstract

Toxic volatile organic compounds (VOC) are commonly found in landfills, including those accepting only municipal waste. These VOC can migrate away from the site through the soil and result in contaminated off-site soil gas. This contaminated soil gas can enter houses built near landfills and is a potential source of human exposure to VOC.

This study investigated soil-gas contamination and the mechanisms of entry of VOC into a house with a basement sited adjacent to a municipal landfill. The VOC were identified and quantified in the soil gas and in indoor and outdoor air. Pressure coupling between the basement and the surrounding soil was measured. Using soil-gas tracers, the pressure-driven advective entry of soil gas was quantified as a function of basement depressurization. From the measurements, estimates were made for the diffusive and advective entry rates of VOC into the house.

A comparison of the chlorinated hydrocarbons found in soil gas at the site and in the landfill suggests that the landfill is the source of the halogenated compounds in the vicinity of the house. At the conditions of the study, the diffusive and advective entry rates of VOC from soil into the basement were estimated to be low and of similar magnitude. Advective entry of soil gas into the house was limited by the low soil air permeability and the low below-grade leakage area of the basement. For this reason, high indoor concentrations due to the intrusion of VOC from soil gas are unlikely at this house, even under conditions that would produce relatively large underpressures in the basement.