Issue Date: 30th April 2019

This report presents a methodology for derivation of AGAC that risk assessors may choose to use to help in the assessment of acute health risks from short-term exposure to contaminants in soil. In the UK, the assessment of risks to humans from land contamination has traditionally tended to focus on chronic exposure scenarios. However, focusing on chronic exposure may not always be protective of potential acute exposure scenarios, especially in non-residential settings, and/or if statistical methods are used to interpret site soil data. The report was developed to address the absence of such guidance in order to support risk assessment practitioners and promote awareness within the contaminated land sector.

27 July 2020 Corrigendum : The authors of SoBRA’s AGAC report have discovered an error in the calculation of the AGACs for the vapour pathway for benzene (adult and child), phenol (child), trichloroethene (adult and child) and vinyl chloride (child). These had been incorrectly calculated due to use of log Koc rather than Koc in the calculation spreadsheets.  A new version of the report (version 2) has been produced with these values corrected (the new AGAC are higher than before) which is available on the link below.