NY Vapor Intrusion Screening Levels
New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Updates to Soil Vapor / Indoor Air Decision Matrices (notice May 2017)
Based on reviews of toxicity data, risk assessments, and soil vapor intrusion data collected in New York State over the past decade, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has assigned eight volatile chemicals to three newly revised and renamed Soil Vapor / Indoor Air Decision Matrices. These assignments and Soil Vapor Intrusion (SVI) Decision Matrices supersede those provided in the final guidance and in subsequent updates to the guidance (please note: the June 2007 update is no longer posted on this web page). The updated assignments are summarized in the following table:
The new matrices are as follows:
| Soil/Vapor Indoor Air Matrix | Method | Volatile Chemical |
| Matrix A | Requires TO-15 SIM to meet Indoor Air screening Levels | carbon tetrachloride 1,1-dichloroethene cis-1,2-dichloroethene trichloroethene |
| Matrix B | Maybe run by TO-15 Full Scan | methylene chloride tetrachloroethene 1,1,1-trichloroethane |
| Matrix C | Requires TO-15 SIM to meet Indoor Air Screening level | vinyl chloride |
To meet these reporting limits, Alpha Analytical runs dual acquisition for both Full Scan and Selected Ion Monitoring (SIM). Data is reported from a single run.
Its important to identify the source of the samples: Indoor Air & Ambient Air, Soil Gas & Sub-slab, submitted for analysis on the Chain of Custody.
Alpha’s Data Merger Tool has been updated to include these new decision Matrices.
To quickly review your project data, Alpha Analytical's online data management tool, Data Merger allows you to select these tables. Alpha Analytical's online data management tool, Data Merger features an option to concurrently review a full TO-15 lis t against the current EPA Vapor Intrusion Screening levels VISL. The EPA VISL screening levels may also be selected for both Indoor Air and Soil Gas. This tool provides the reviewer a rapid assessment of the data set against both the NYSDOH Matrix and EPA screening levels.
Other Important Screening Level Updates
August 2015: New Ambient Air Guideline for Trichloroethene Announcement
NYSDOH has lowered their guideline for trichloroethene in ambient air from 5 micrograms per cubic meter (mcg/m3) to 2 mcg/m3 and developed a recommended immediate action level of 20 mcg/m3. The air guideline identified in Table 3.1 of the final guidance is no longer applicable.
For more information regarding these updates or if you have questions regarding your upcoming air testing project, please complete the form on the left of this page.
