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Sam is learning about Radon today. ... See MoreSee Less
Resilience and Motivation. Learning can build resilience, because-by definition-learning requires you to realize you don't already know it all and encourages you to try something new and fill in gaps of information.There are still a lot of people who still do not know about Vapor Intrusion. And in the spirit of educating, learning, and growing. For those in and out of the field. Click on the video below. Feel free to share!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAa94c0nVK4#learning #growthmindset #vaporintrusion #vaporpin ... See MoreSee Less
One of our own, Kyle Chilcote, has been going through some Physical Therapy for some ATFL (Anterior Talo-Fibular Ligament) Damage recently. He's taken advantage of his unfortunate situation by learning more about SEO (Search Engine Optimization)! Kyle says, "It has really helped me in understanding the frustrations that all SEO specialists have. Especially when it comes to all of the things that should be thought of prior to a web page coming into existence." He has suggested brushing up on SEO terms is very helpful. Especially, "For anyone else who also has the urge to make sure that an employee or vendor is set up for success prior to a project." If anyone is interested in what he was using to learn. He was following along with the Simplilearn free youtube videos! The playlist link is below.#learning #searchengineoptimization #success #vaporintrusion #vaporpin ... See MoreSee Less
Join us February 13th for a band on workshop at Ecosearch srl. See you soon🔹 Vi avevamo promesso delle novità, vi avevamo promesso che quest’anno tornavamo ad organizzare Workshop nella nostra azienda e così abbiamo fatto.🆕 Il 13 febbraio si terrà nella nostra sede un Workshop VaporPin. Nel nostro sito potete scaricare il programma e il modulo di adesione, qui di seguito il link ⬇️: https://www.ecosearch.info/workshop-su-vaporpinLa partecipazione è gratuita, dovete solo compilare il modulo di adesione e mettere su Google Maps “EcoSearch” per raggiungerci.Vi aspettiamo numerosi, non vediamo l’ora di accogliervi nella nostra azienda!!Vapor Pin#VaporIntrusion #Remediation #SitiContaminati ... See MoreSee Less
NEW - Tygon Connectors!The Vapor Pin® Kit is designed to make your use of our products a success each time. However, one item was previously not included - the connector to match the barb fitting to the sample train. From this point forward, our kits will include Tygon connectors to bridge the distance between your sampling train and the Vapor Pin® Sampling Device. You may also purchase a bag of Tygon connectors separately or in 5 foot lengths.https://www.vaporpin.com/product/tygon-connectors-10-pieces/ ... See MoreSee Less
Vapor Pin is at Ferrara.
Vapor Pin
I'm thrilled to share with you the program of Remtech Europe 2021. This important environmental conference is made of 23 sessions fully ONLINE. Any session is completely FREE.To follow any session you have to register in our website https://remtech.meeters.space with a valid email. To reserve your seat, receive the presentations in pdf and receive your Certificate of Attendance of the session you will attend, you have to register in the Google form of each session. In each form you would find also the detailed program and beginning and end in different time zones. Reserve your seat today!SESSION 1 (Organized by JRC-European Commission) From policy talking to industry actions: Zero Pollution for Soil Mon 20 SEPTEMBER 09:00 – 13.00 CEST https://forms.gle/RhvqacpBJKrXvveq6SESSION 2 (Organized by US Army Corps of Engineers) TRAINING COURSE - PFAS: characterization, environmental impact, remediation strategies Mon 20 SEPTEMBER 14.30 – 19.00 CEST https://forms.gle/pSJzwMWt7G1mERUKASESSION 3 Sustainable management of contaminated sites Mon 20 SEPTEMBER 14.30 – 16.30 CEST https://forms.gle/GzgcfXHWEzTySktVASESSION 4 Waste tailings and acid mine drainage: challenges for Mining Sites Mon 20 SEPTEMBER 17.00 – 19.00 CEST https://forms.gle/RqQLnZqXeoJd5dKK8SESSION 5 Bioremediation and phytoremediation in agricultural, industrial, and military sites Tue 21 SEPTEMBER 09.00 – 11.00 CEST https://forms.gle/sScosaSUwsSh5AH79SESSION 6 Oil and hydrocarbons impacted sites Tue 21 SEPTEMBER 11.30 – 13.30 CEST https://forms.gle/VFx1Re2txyaxF2z78SESSION 7 HRSC, High Resolution Site Characterization Tue 21 SEPTEMBER 11.30 – 13.30 CEST https://forms.gle/okDrkFA8YrsAUhcRASESSION 8 (Organized by ASTM) TRAINING COURSE - ASTM STANDARDS: PFAS, Sediment and Climate Resilience Tue 21 SEPTEMBER 14.30 – 19.00 CEST https://forms.gle/pnz5H6edwFi6p1QA9SESSION 9 Innovative, digital and smart characterization techniques tools Tue 21 SEPTEMBER 14.30 – 16.30 CEST https://forms.gle/5MvheZmiPq5aQphW8SESSION 10 Circular Economy: how to apply it in the context of the next Generation EU Tue 21 SEPTEMBER 17.00 – 19.00 CEST https://forms.gle/tHBuZXpuraKiHYwi8SESSION 11 Soil remediation: can we deal in a sustainable way? Wed 22 SEPTEMBER 09.00 – 11.00 CEST https://forms.gle/Zh8gKvK1bn8BxcJk9SESSION 12 DNAPL and chlorinated compounds: optimize the process to achieve the target Wed 22 SEPTEMBER 11.30 – 13.30 CEST https://forms.gle/M8zcit6jQiNaBa446SESSION 13 (Organized by SERDP-ESTCP) TRAINING COURSE - Current Approaches for Vapor Intrusion Site Investigation and Mitigation Wed 22 SEPTEMBER 14.30 – 19.00 CEST https://forms.gle/q4BigJhPv891kG4U8SESSION 14 (Organized by Ramboll) TRAINING COURSE - Sustainability assessment as a tool for a more sustainable and resilient remediation of soils, groundwater and sediments Wed 22 SEPTEMBER 14.30 – 16.30 CEST https://forms.gle/LFBFwAaWqdnvPQUb8SESSION 15 PFAS, remediating the forever chemical Wed 22 SEPTEMBER 17.00 – 19.00 CEST https://forms.gle/H3yXyRzBshvKifBM9SESSION 16 Microplastics and sediments: two main threats for ports and coastal areas Thu 23 SEPTEMBER 09.00 – 11.00 CEST https://forms.gle/GQCAfXJ142r23r2B9SESSION 17 Sustainathon Thu 23 SEPTEMBER 14.00 – Fri 24 SEPTEMBER 14:00 CEST https://forms.gle/zCQBwt3eG1xBFGSM7SESSION 18 Aeriforms and vapor intrusion: measures and models Thu 23 SEPTEMBER 11.30 – 13.30 CEST https://forms.gle/m1KikTrbNncick936SESSION 19 Groundwater remediation in difficult conditions Thu 23 SEPTEMBER 11.30 – 13.30 CEST https://forms.gle/d9neHnF2sP9mN8hu6SESSION 20 (Organized by AESAS) TRAINING COURSE - State of the art of contaminated sites in Brazil Thu 23 SEPTEMBER 14.30 – 19.00 CEST https://forms.gle/Yy5hBLnzX2qngWcS8SESSION 21 River environment: managing impacts from different sources Fri 24 SEPTEMBER 09.00 – 11.00 CEST https://forms.gle/Ydgj3UFN13TTg3Yk8SESSION 22 Wastewater and sewer sludge, handling the last link in the chain Fri 24 SEPTEMBER 11:30 – 13.30 CEST https://forms.gle/L6Tsi5zPVfUpWQhEASESSION 23 TRAINING COURSE: Wastewater control and seawater quality: it is possible to do it acting differently? Fri 25 SEPTEMBER 14.30 – 19.00 CEST https://forms.gle/mvTELbnKXZr4S6cs5Feel free to share to your colleagues or to any contacts that you think he/she may be interested. REMEMBER THAT THE CONFERENCE IS FREE, NO FEES. JOIN US !See you online!Laurie A. ChilcoteRemtech Europe Ambassador ... See MoreSee Less
Vapor Pin is at RemTech Expo.
Vapor Pin
Decontamination and Decommissioning of Warehouses - Gela Industrial Site. - Author: Mariangela Venco (ENI Rewind) RemTech Expo ... See MoreSee Less
We are excited to announce our Brazil Patent BR 11 2018 004186-6 has been granted!#remediation #vaporintrusion #contaminatedsites #vaporpin #vi #coxcolvin #patent #Brazil ... See MoreSee Less

Main Content

EPA Updates Vapor Intrusion Screening Level Calculator


In February 2018, US EPA updated its Vapor Intrusion Screening Level (VISL) Calculator in a number of ways. The VISL Calculator now consists of an online calculator, instead of a downloadable spreadsheet, and it is in most respects, more powerful and easier to use.

To use the VISL Calculator, one enters the chemicals of interest, and other inputs including Hazard Quotient for non-carcinogens (typically 1), Target Cancer Risk (10-6, 10-5, 10-4, or other), Exposure Scenario (residential vs commercial), and chemical names. The user then hits the Retrieve button and a new window opens up with the results. One can opt to:

  • View the results online
  • Output the files to an Excel worksheet
  • Output a series of tables in PDF format

The revised VISL calculator represents a considerable improvement over the earlier VISL Calculator, and selecting the chemicals of concern is easier in most respects. On the plus side, unlike the earlier spreadsheet-based versions, the chemical names include a number of synonyms and Chemical Abstracts Services (CAS) numbers. One can select benzene, for example, by typing in “benzene”, “benzol”, “phenyl hydride”, “71432”, etc. The earlier VISL calculator provided only a few synonyms, and while you could select chemicals via name or CAS numbers, you couldn’t do both. If you selected a number of chemicals via name and then selected one via CAS number, all of the earlier selections were lost. Now you can mix and match. Unfortunately, the new VISL Calculator displays only 7 or 8 chemicals at a time, and scrolling down through the window to pick a chemical from the very long list is time consuming. In general, it’s easier to select a chemical by typing in part of the chemical’s name, but the entry “benzene”, for example, brings up more than 130 chemicals, and they’re not in alphabetical order. It might be easier if the VISL Calculator opened up a larger window in which more chemicals could be seen at once.

As discussed earlier, the new calculator is not a downloadable spreadsheet, but it can output spreadsheets showing the results. But because the spreadsheets contain no hidden information or calculations, it’s impossible to add to the chemicals of concern or to modify risk settings, groundwater temperature, etc., after leaving the website. If you wish to add chemicals or change settings, you’ll have to return to the online calculator and start over.

A potentially useful feature of the revised VISL Calculator is the ability to modify the soil-gas or groundwater attenuation factors. As discussed in the July 2014 issue of Focus on the Environment, attenuation factors represent the ratio between indoor air and subsurface vapor concentrations. The default soil-gas attenuation factor is 0.03, but the measured attenuation factor, according to EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Database report, (2012) is 0.003. The risk is intentionally exaggerated by a factor of 10 to allow for a safety margin. This makes sense to a point, but the higher ceilings, greater air-exchange rates, and other conditions characteristic of commercial/industrial settings result in even lower actual attenuation factors. Cox-Colvin routinely sees actual soil-gas attenuation factors in commercial/industrial settings of 0.0001 or lower, where indoor air is okay, even though soil gas concentrations greatly exceed soil-gas VISLs. So the ability to match attenuation factors to site-specific conditions will enable the use of more realistic – but still protective – VISLs. However, convincing regulators to accept less conservative attenuation factors for commercial/industrial settings might be difficult, and you or your consultant will need a good understanding of attenuation factors to justify their use.

Another advantage of the revised VISL Calculator is that it’s now tied directly to EPA’s Regional Screening Level (RSL) database, and VISLs are updated automatically with RSLs. The older spreadsheet-based calculator was updated periodically, but screening levels lagged the latest RSLs. Additionally, the list of substances in the new VISL Calculator includes more constituents, including Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs), which are useful at petroleum sites. And finally, the new VISL Calculator outputs metadata, including inhalation Unit Risk Factors, Inhalation Reference Concentrations, and other information that risk assessors may find useful.

In all, the revised VISL Calculator is a step forward, but you might be wise to have CAS numbers handy when selecting chemicals, and don’t leave the website until you’re done selecting.

Author: Mort Schmidt is a Senior Scientist with Cox-Colvin & Associates, Inc. He received his BS and MS degrees in Geology and Mineralogy from The Ohio State University, and has been a Cox Colvin & Associates employee since 1997. His areas of expertise include vapor intrusion and contaminant investigation and analysis, and he currently serves as Cox Colvin’s Practice Leader – Vapor Intrusion Services. Mort is a Certified Professional Geologist with AIPG and is a registered Geologist in Indiana.