| The research for this thesis focused on the effects of soil physical properties on the modelling of the migration of volatile petroleum hydrocarbons to assess the potential human health risks from inhaling petroleum hydrocarbon vapours that may migrate from subsurface soil and groundwater contamination into residential or commercial buildings. The soil physical properties collected at twelve Alberta service stations included particle size, porosity, water content, bulk density, organic carbon content, vapour permeability. At six of the twelve sites, soil vapour samples were also collected. Using the Alberta Environment regulatory framework for calculating site-specific guidelines and evaluating risks for indoor air inhalation, the results indicated the soil physical properties did have an influence on the migration of the volatile hydrocarbons and the values of the calculated site-specific guidelines. The significance of influence was generally governed by deterministic versus probabilistic input parameter analysis and use of modelled versus measured soil vapour concentrations. |
