Vapour monitoring

Vapour monitoring (soil gas survey, flux measurements, monitoring of ambient air) is increasingly used in the context of contaminated sites management, according to Part Four, Title V of Legislative Decree 152/06 and subsequent amendments, for the environmental characterization phase, the site-specific risk assessment and the design of the intervention measures.
ISPRA and ARPAs, within the activities of the Working Group 9 bis of the National System for the Protection of the Environment (SNPA), have developed a series of technical documents aimed at defining a common procedure for the validation by the Control Authorities of the data deriving from the direct measures of vapours in the context of contaminated sites and for their correct use in the management procedure. In the WG activities the Rome Plus software has been produced and represents the official tool validated by SNPA for the application of the guideline documents.

The documents produced by the WG 9 bis are therefore to be considered as technical support for the agencies and public/private sector operators with the following purposes:

• provide common technical information at national level for designing experimental vapour campaigns (soil gas survey, flux measurements) as part of the contaminated sites management procedures, according to Part Four, Title V of Legislative Decree 152/06 and subsequent amendments, and for conducting the related sampling and field measurements;

• define a common procedure at national level for the use of data deriving from experimental vapour measurements in the Risk Assessment (RA) of contaminated sites based on a gradual approach for data evaluation, in analogy of indications of the USEPA (USEPA, 1996) and ASTM (ASTM, 2001) documents as well as the relevant legislation (Part Four, Title V of Legislative Decree 152/06 and subsequent amendments).

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Related documents

• Design of vapour monitoring in contaminated sites and related Appendices (SNPA Guidelines 15/2018)
• Analytical methods for vapour monitoring in contaminated sites (SNPA Guidelines 16/2018)
• Procedure for the evaluation and use of soil gas data in the risk assessment of contaminated sites (SNPA Guidelines 17/2018)

Update: June 2024