# E1 - Building Aboveground Strategies to Identify and Address Belowground Hot Spots for VOC Vapor Intrusion in Complex Urban Settings

> **NIH NIH P42** · WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $316,726

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract: In post-industrial cities, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are increasingly
recognized as especially persistent and problematic contaminants. VOCs have been highlighted because of their
impact on public health through intrusion into basements via soil vapors. However, our ability to address this
public health issue is limited by our ability to identify belowground VOC contamination in a spatially
comprehensive and cost-efficient way. Project E1’s objective is to use an innovative aboveground approach to
pinpoint possible hot spots of belowground VOCs in post-industrial urban environments that contribute to human
health issues associated with degraded indoor air quality as a result of vapor intrusion. Our central hypothesis
is that because VOCs can accumulate in plant tissue, mainly via root-water uptake, plant-water interactions can
be used in a cost-effective way to inform VOC data and isolate belowground VOC hotspots in post-industrial
urban environments with highly altered hydrology. We propose to address this hypothesis through three specific
aims: (1) identify hot spots of VOC contamination using data from aboveground plant tissue in a geospatial GIS
framework; (2) identify belowground source waters for urban plants to isolate possible sources of VOC
contamination (especially in urban environments where access to groundwater through wells is limited); (3) verify
belowground presence of VOCs and link to VOCs in indoor air. The proposed approach is the first effort to link
phytoscreening and stable isotope techniques in understanding belowground VOCs. Compounds of interests
include trichloroethylene; tetrachloroethylene; benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes – priority Superfund
contaminants that have been detected in soil vapors of our study area (Detroit, MI). Our findings will contribute
to the problem-solving goals of CLEAR by: (1) providing the proof-of-concept for using aboveground plant tissue
in both point and non-point belowground source remediation efforts of Superfund-relevant VOC contaminants in
complex urban environments and (2) providing the geospatial framework for sharing data between environmental
and biomedical research efforts aimed at improving conditions that impact public health in complex post-
industrial urban environments. Metrics from our geospatial framework and metrics of public health concern can
be spatially correlated to focus remediation and/or mitigation efforts. Therefore, Project E1 directly responds to:
SRP broad mandate 3, i.e., development of “methods and technologies to detect hazardous substances in the
environment” – and directly relates to the goals of Project E2; SRP broad mandate 2, i.e., development of
“methods to assess the risks to public health presented by hazardous substances” because the incorporation of
our environmental data into a geospatial framework allows for direct integration with public health data – and
directly relates to the goals of Project B3 and...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10352962
- **Project number:** 1P42ES030991-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Shirley Papuga
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $316,726
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-08 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10352962

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10352962, E1 - Building Aboveground Strategies to Identify and Address Belowground Hot Spots for VOC Vapor Intrusion in Complex Urban Settings (1P42ES030991-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10352962. Licensed CC0.

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