Environmental Investigation and Cumulative Carcinogen Risk Assessment of Vapor Intrusion at a Commercial Dry Cleaning Facility
RoseyFields conducted a comprehensive environmental investigation to evaluate contamination originating from historical commercial dry cleaning operations. Our team evaluated the release and migration of volatile organic compounds into adjacent commercial spaces. The primary chemicals of concern analyzed in this assessment included tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, benzene, methylene chloride, and toluene. We evaluated how these solvents and associated chemicals were released into the surrounding environment, impacting ambient air, subsurface soils, and groundwater through historical spills, structural vulnerabilities, and interconnected ventilation systems.
To characterize the extent of the contamination, our team performed detailed technical analyses focusing on groundwater and soil vapor intrusion pathways. We evaluated subsurface soil gas and indoor air sampling data to understand how volatile organic compounds volatilized from the groundwater and migrated upward through the vadose zone into overlying structures. Our vapor intrusion analysis assessed how these contaminated vapors penetrated commercial buildings through foundational cracks, structural openings, and faulty or unconnected ventilation ducts. Additionally, we conducted comparative analyses to determine how the indoor air concentrations of these chemicals measured against established background ambient air levels in highly urbanized areas.
We evaluated the exposure pathways to characterize the affected population, which consisted of individuals working in adjacent commercial properties who experienced prolonged inhalation of the contaminated indoor air. To quantify the potential health impacts on this exposed class, RoseyFields performed a cumulative carcinogen risk assessment utilizing established federal regulatory methodology. By evaluating inhalation unit risk factors alongside specific exposure times, frequencies, and durations, our team calculated the aggregate excess cancer risk resulting from continuous indoor air exposure to the mixture of toxic volatile organic compounds.
This investigation was conducted under the direction of Dr. Paul Rosenfeld, an environmental scientist and environmental forensic expert with extensive experience in environmental exposure assessment, toxicology, air quality, environmental fate and transport, risk assessment, and environmental forensics. Through RoseyFields LLC, Dr. Rosenfeld provides scientific consulting, environmental forensic analysis, regulatory support, and expert witness services involving environmental contamination, human exposure, and public health. His technical oversight helped ensure that the methodologies, scientific interpretations, and conclusions presented in this case study are consistent with accepted scientific principles and current best practices.