A Professional Development Course (PDC) entitled “Tools of the Trade — Vapor Intrusion Investigation for the Industrial Hygienist” was recently co-taught by Alyson Fortune of Columbia Analytical at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Exhibition (AIHce), May 31-June 5, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minn. The all day interactive training course was presented by Alyson Fortune, Bharti Ujjani, CIH and Peter Granholm, CIH, PG along with Helen Dawson, PhD. from USEPA Region Eight.

Ms. Fortune taught the air sampling, laboratory analysis, and data evaluation section of the PDC. This section compared and contrasted the available air sampling media options for vapor intrusion, described in detail the concept of using helium as a leak testing tracer for soil gas sampling, and showed an example of a typical air laboratory report, which pointed out key features consultants should examine when reviewing vapor intrusion data.

In its first year, the Vapor Intrusion PDC was sold out and ranked in the top 25% of all PDCs. AIHce is a premier annual event for thousands of practicing industrial hygiene and environmental health & safety professionals.

Ms. Fortune is an Air Quality Scientist with Columbia Analytical in Simi Valley, Calif.