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The Assessment of Site Contamination National Environment Protection Measure 1999 Variation 2013 (NEPM 1999) has limited information with respect to the public health risk assessment and management of vapour intrusion. There are significant gaps in current Australian technical guidance on public health assessment and management of exposures arising from volatile chlorinated hydrocarbon vapour intrusion across residential areas.
From time to time environment regulators have engaged with health departments, particularly when pronounced vapour intrusion events have been investigated to occur in residential areas. This guidance provides options for the assessment and management of vapour intrusion as it applies to communities impacted by contaminated groundwater, soil and soil vapour. The guidance should be read in conjunction with the “Environmental Health Risk Assessment: Guidelines for assessing risk from environmental hazards” (enHealth, 2012) while noting jurisdiction specific requirements or practices for the assessment of vulnerable populations.
The development of jurisdiction-specific indoor air action frameworks based on the templates present in Attachments 3 and 4 should be made in consultation with an expert toxicologist and jurisdictional decision-makers that have an in-depth knowledge of the risk tolerance of the jurisdiction to involuntary exposures from environmental contaminants.
This guidance targets three main audiences and it aims to achieve the following objectives for each of these audiences:
•Risk assessment practitioners – Providing clear guidance for risk assessors, environmental health practitioners and toxicologists to assess and manage vapour intrusion as it applies to communities impacted by vapour intrusion.
•The community – Allowing communities impacted by vapour intrusion to understand the decision-making processes and the time-frame to deliver outcomes (for example, aiming to achieve a uniform health objective for all) as it applies to mitigation and or remediation.
•Decision-makers and staff of the jurisdiction – Establishing a clear framework through which the jurisdiction can assess, manage and articulate risk posed by the vapour intrusion pathway to impacted communities.
Practitioners continue to face challenges in the toxicology used in vapour intrusion risk assessment due to the ongoing nature of the interim HILs for volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons (NEPM 1999) and the recent changes to the regulatory framework in the USA for TCE and PCE.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This guidance was prepared by Dr Ian Delaere and Dr Chris Lease, South Australia Department of Health and Wellbeing for the Environmental Health Standing Committee (enHealth), a standing committee of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).
The review and contributions from the enHealth Expert Reference Panel on Environmental Health members from each jurisdiction are acknowledged.
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Ian’s qualifications include a Doctor of Philosophy, being a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and a Fellow of the Australasian College of Toxicology and Risk Assessment.
Ian has 20 years of experience in advising Government, industry, regulators and the community on challenging environmental and occupational health exposure circumstances.
In his previous role, as the Manager of Toxicology at SA Health, Ian successfully led the SA Health team to facilitate the permanent relocation of residents impacted by trichloroethene vapour intrusion. Ian co-authored the enHealth guidance on the human health risk assessment of volatile chlorinated hydrocarbon vapour intrusion.
Ian is the Director of Expotox, which provides expert toxicology and human health risk assessment advice to address tricky and complex environmental health challenges.
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