Surfactant-Enhanced In Situ Remediation Beneath an Occupied Residential Building: Reduction of the BTEX Vapor-Intrusion Source Term and Field Validation in a Single Field Season.
- 1Biotix Inc., Quebec City, QC G1N 2E3, Canada.
Abstract
Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination beneath occupied buildings poses a chronic BTEX vapor-intrusion risk, yet field-scale evidence for in situ remediation under occupied residential structures remains scarce. We report a full-scale surfactant-enhanced remediation (SER) campaign at a former service-station site in Quebec City (Canada), where 235 m² of contaminated soil extended directly beneath an occupied multi-unit residential building. Through 46 dual-action injection-extraction wells, 15.3 m³ of a biodegradable polysorbate-family washing solution and 31.2 m³ of rinse water were delivered by a stop-and-go protocol over 115 days. Pre-treatment soils reached Criterion C for BTEX (xylenes up to 335 mg kg⁻¹). Validation sampling at three sectors showed compliance with Quebec Criterion B at two of them, with a single residual xylenes exceedance (9.0 mg kg⁻¹; Criterion B = 5) at Sector 1. Sector-mean abatement reached >99% for ethylbenzene and xylenes at Sector 2, 79% and 90% at Sector 1, and 60-61% for TPH C₁₀-C₅₀. All validation results complied with the provincial criterion for the methylnaphthalenes, yet 1-methylnaphthalene remained 2.2-5.0 times its inhalation-driven USEPA residential screening level. Biodegradable SER can substantially reduce the BTEX vapor-intrusion source term within a single season without displacing occupants; occupant exposure itself was not measured.
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BibTeX
@article{decabooter2026surfactantenhanced,
title = {{Surfactant-Enhanced In Situ Remediation Beneath an Occupied Residential Building: Reduction of the BTEX Vapor-Intrusion Source Term and Field Validation in a Single Field Season.}},
author = {Gautier Decabooter},
journal = {Toxics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/toxics14100906},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42931693},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Surfactant-Enhanced In Situ Remediation Beneath an Occupied Residential Building: Reduction of the BTEX Vapor-Intrusion Source Term and Field Validation in a Single Field Season.
AU - Gautier Decabooter
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - Toxics
DO - 10.3390/toxics14100906
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42931693
AB - Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination beneath occupied buildings poses a chronic BTEX vapor-intrusion risk, yet field-scale evidence for in situ remediation under occupied residential structures remains scarce. We report a full-scale surfactant-enhanced remediation (SER) campaign at a former service-station site in Quebec City (Canada), where 235 m² of contaminated soil extended directly beneath an occupied multi-unit residential building. Through 46 dual-action injection-extraction wells, 15.3 m³ of a biodegradable polysorbate-family washing solution and 31.2 m³ of rinse water were delivered by a stop-and-go protocol over 115 days. Pre-treatment soils reached Criterion C for BTEX (xylenes up to 335 mg kg⁻¹). Validation sampling at three sectors showed compliance with Quebec Criterion B at two of them, with a single residual xylenes exceedance (9.0 mg kg⁻¹; Criterion B = 5) at Sector 1. Sector-mean abatement reached >99% for ethylbenzene and xylenes at Sector 2, 79% and 90% at Sector 1, and 60-61% for TPH C₁₀-C₅₀. All validation results complied with the provincial criterion for the methylnaphthalenes, yet 1-methylnaphthalene remained 2.2-5.0 times its inhalation-driven USEPA residential screening level. Biodegradable SER can substantially reduce the BTEX vapor-intrusion source term within a single season without displacing occupants; occupant exposure itself was not measured.
SN - 2305-6304
ER -