Factors affecting indoor air concentrations of volatile organic compounds at a site of subsurface gasoline contamination

We report a field study of soil gas transport of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into a slab-on-grade building found at a site contaminated with gasoline. Although the high VOC concentrations (30-60 g m{sup -3}) measured in the soil gas at depths of 0.7 m below the building suggest a potential for high levels of indoor VOC, the measured indoor air concentrations were lower than those in the soil gas by approximately six orders of magnitude ({approx} 0.03 mg m{sup -3}). This large ratio is explained by (1) the expected dilution of soil gas entering the building via ambient building ventilation (a factor of {approx}1000), and (2) an unexpectedly sharp gradient in soil gas VOC concentration between the depths of 0.1 and 0.7 m (a factor of {approx}1000). Measurements of the soil physical and biological characteristics indicate that a partial physical barrier to vertical transport in combination with microbial degradation provides a likely explanation for this gradient. These factors are likely to be important to varying degrees at other sites.