Use of California Human Health Screening Levels (CHHSLs) in ...

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esources even though direct exposure to the soils does not pose a significanthealth risk. Since the CHHSLs do not address impacts to groundwater, surfacewater or sediment, these and other potential environmental concerns should beaddressed as part of a comprehensive environmental risk assessment.2.4 Screening For Soil Direct-Exposure ConcernsThe soil screening levels presented in Table 1 address potential exposure ofhumans to contaminants in soil through incidental soil ingestion, dermalabsorption and inhalation of dust or vapors in outdoor air. These soil screeninglevels are given in milligrams (mg) of chemical per kilogram (kg) of dry soil.Therefore, the analytical laboratory must be instructed to report their resultsaccordingly. Models and assumptions used to develop the soil CHHSLs aresummarized in Appendix 1. The CHHSLs represent a combination of standardassumptions regarding exposure of residents and workers to contaminants in soiland outdoor air and toxicity factors for each of the specific chemicals listed.CHHSLs for chemicals that are known or suspected carcinogens were calculatedusing a target excess lifetime cancer risk of one-in-one-million (10 -6 ). A targethazard quotient of 1.0 was used to calculate CHHSLS for noncancer healtheffects.The presence of a chemical in soil at concentrations below its correspondingCHHSL can be assumed to not pose a significant health risk to people who maylive or work at the site. Since sites usually have multiple contaminants, thecumulative, or total risk and hazards posed by all the hazardous chemicals a siteshould also be estimated using the approach described in Section 2.8.Residential and commercial/industrial soil CHHSLs are applicable to soils that areat the ground surface or could be brought to the ground surface at some time inthe future, with subsequent potential exposure by human receptors. A depth ofmore than three meters (approximately 10 feet) is generally used to delineate"deep" soils that are likely to remain isolated in the subsurface versus "shallow"soils that may be exposed during future redevelopment activities (Cal/EPA1996a). Exposure of workers to deeper soils could still occur during periodicconstruction and utility maintenance work. Even if deep soil contamination doesnot present a human health risk, the overseeing regulatory agency may requirepreparation of a formal land-use covenant in order to allow such contamination toremain on site.January 20052-6CHHSLS
2.4.1 Evaluating LeadIn Table 1, the Commercial/Industrial Soil CHHSL for lead is listed as 3,500mg/kg. This number was calculated using the methods described in Appendix 1.It should be noted, however, that this screening number is above the TotalThreshold Limit Concentration for lead (1,000 mg/kg) as defined in Title 22 ofthe California Code of Regulations. It is also above the USEPA Region IXPreliminary Remediation Goal (PRG) of 800 mg/kg for commercial land use.OEHHA is evaluating the method it used to derive its health-based screeningnumber for a commercial/industrial scenario. Until this evaluation is complete,the commercial/industrial Soil CHHSL for lead in Table 1 should be consideredan interim value, and the overseeing regulatory agency should be consulted on theappropriate screening number to be used at a site under investigation.2.5 Screening of Volatile Organic Chemicals2.5.1 Soil Screening Levels for Direct Exposure ConcernsScreening levels for direct exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in soilwere not developed by OEHHA and are not included in this edition of theCHHSLs document. Direct-exposure models such as those used by USEPARegion IX do not take into account the total amount (mass) of a volatile chemicalthat might be present at a site (refer to Appendix 2). This is important, since thedirect-exposure models assume a continuous off-gassing of vapors throughout a30-year exposure period. In addition, the models assume exposure both viainhalation of vapors emitted to outdoor air and via incidental ingestion of volatilechemicals in soil. These assumptions may be overly conservative for highlyvolatile chemicals that are not expected to remain at significant concentrations inthe soil over time following off-gassing to the outdoor air.Bulk soil screening levels (i.e. concentrations measured in soil) for volatilechemicals are not presented in this document. The restricted size of soil sampleslimits the ability to use soil data to evaluate vapor intrusion concerns except atsites with very minor releases. At sites where significant releases of volatilechemicals have occurred, the collection of soil gas data in conjunction with bulksoil data is strongly recommended. For sites characterized by only minor releasesof volatile chemicals and limited impacts to soil (e.g., minor spills around the fillports of underground storage tanks), cleanup of soils to meet direct-exposureJanuary 20052-7CHHSLS
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