Grantee Research Project Results

In this Phase I SBIR, Seacoast proposes to develop a fully automated analyzer to monitor indoor air quality (IAQ) in spaces suspected of containing air toxics. These toxic vapors typically emanate from contaminated soil or groundwater such as Superfund sites. Currently, the US EPA lists 1,333 Superfund sites and 2,300 other locations, all potential sources of vapor intrusion, deserving of monitoring to avoid delirious health effects on humans utilizing the affected spaces. The US remediation market in 2019 was $80.5B. Long-term monitoring to confirm remediation effectiveness relies on several sampling techniques. To provide analytical data more frequently at substantially lower costs, Seacoast will develop a compact, autonomous, cost-competitive fieldable analyzer specifically tuned for chlorocarbons, carcinogens commonly found at Superfund and brownfield sites. The analyzer supports users of thermal desorption (TD) (EPA TO-17) and gas chromatography (GC) for identification and quantification of air toxics.

This analyzer combines low-cost photoionization detectors, trap-and-purge TD-tube collectors, and the resolving power of Seacoast’s oven-less GC to (1) repeatedly collect and analyze air in its immediate environment, (2) provide reliable data, wirelessly, to a network for environmental site managers to use in plume tracking models, and (3) reduce per-sample costs by cycling, unattended, between sample collection, analysis, and calibration, over a period of days to months. The system will be remotely programmed and activated, to provide unattended room or building air monitoring for vapor intrusion, emissions, or leaks. The system will closely follow TO-17 for TD-tube air sampling and GC analysis, with accommodations for operation without compressed gas cylinders, making the system portable. TD also acts as a concentration amplifier allowing the system to achieve sensitivities ≤0.5ppb of TCE or PCE, the EPA action level. An important innovation is the development of auto- calibration and purge validation. Protocols will be developed using a dedicated sample loop to allow the system to self-correct for detector drift and to detect impurities. The system will be inexpensive (<$7,500), compared to common laboratory instruments (e. g. GC/MS), and portable for easy setup. Thus, per-sample costs can be much lower than traditional, labor-intensive means of sample collection. Environmental remediators and IAQ investigators will have data to track concentrations several times a day, rather than weekly or monthly. Seacoast will work with Markes International to validate the Phase I prototype using their analytical labs. The analyzer provides the as-of-yet-unrealized concept of autonomous, unattended site monitoring to confirm success in site remediation.