Australian Guideline on the Investigation Levels for Soil and Groundwater

This page contains tables detailing Soil and Groundwater Investigation Levels reproduced from Schedule B(1) Guideline on the Investigation Levels for Soil and Groundwater, part of the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure, 1999. 

The source documents are available from the National Environment Protection Council web site as a series of 10 PDF files. It is strongly recommended that you obtain copies of these documents as they contain a great deal of information that is not reproduced here, including the legislative background to the tables and definitions of terms used. Tables are reproduced with the kind permission of NEPC

Superscripted links refer to the notes that follow the tables,

Table 5-A - Soil Investigation Levels (mg/kg)

1 Human exposure settings based on land use have been established for HILs (see Taylor and Langley 1998). These are:

A. 'Standard' residential with garden/accessible soil (home-grown produce contributing less than 10% of vegetable and fruit intake; no poultry): this category includes children's day-care centres, kindergartens, preschools and primary schools.

B. Residential with substantial vegetable garden (contributing 10% or more of vegetable and fruit intake) and/or poultry providing any egg or poultry meat dietary intake.

C. Residential with substantial vegetable garden (contributing 10% or more of vegetable and fruit intake); poultry excluded.

D. Residential with minimal opportunities for soil access: includes dwellings with fully and permanently paved yard space such as high-rise apartments and flats.

E. Parks, recreational open space and playing fields: includes secondary schools.

F. Commercial/Industrial: includes premises such as shops and offices as well as factories and industrial sites.

(For details on derivation of HILs for human exposure settings based on land use see Schedule B(7A).

2 Site and contaminant specific: on site sampling is the preferred approach for estimating poultry and plant uptake. Exposure estimates may then be compared to the relevant ADIs, PTWIs and GDs.

3 Site and contaminant specific: on site sampling is the preferred approach for estimating plant uptake. . Exposure estimates may then be compared to the relevant ADIs, PTWIs and GDs.

4 These will be developed for regional areas by jurisdictions as required.

5 Interim EILs for the urban setting are based on considerations of phytotoxicity, ANZECC B levels, and soil survey data from urban residential properties in four Australian capital cities.

6 Background ranges, where HILs or EILs are set, are taken from the Field Geologist's Manual, compiled by D A Berkman, Third Edition 1989. Publisher - The Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy. This publication contains information on a more extensive list of soil elements than is included in this Table. Another source of information is Contaminated Sites Monograph No. 4: Trace Element Concentrations in Soils from Rural & Urban Areas of Australia, 1995. South Australian Health Commission.

7 Valence state not distinguished - expected as Cr (III).

8 The carbon number is an 'equivalent carbon number' based on a method that standardises according to boiling point. It is a method used by some analytical laboratories to report carbon numbers for chemicals evaluated on a boiling point GC column.

9 For protection of built structures.

Table 5-B Groundwater Investigation Levels

10 Levels for recreational and industrial uses have not been set. For guidance on Recreational levels, see NHMRC/ARMCANZ, 1996. For recreational uses, toxic substances should, in general, not exceed the concentrations given for drinking water. For guidance on Industrial levels, see ANZECC, 1992. Industrial settings include: generic processes, hydro-electric power generation, textiles, chemical and allied industries, food and beverage, iron and steel, tanning and leather, pulp and paper, petroleum.

11 Taken from Australian Water Quality Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Waters (AWQG) (ANZECC 1992)

12 See table 2.8, p.2-49 AWQG (ANZECC 1992) for further information

13 see table 2.9, p2-50 AWQG (ANZECC 1992) for further information

14 see table 2.10 also, p.2-55 (ANZECC 1992) for further information

15 see table 2.10 also, p.2-55 (ANZECC 1992) for further information

16 see table on p32 (Guidelines for Pesticides), p32 (NHMRC/ARMCANZ 1996)

17 Maximum chloride concentration should be set according to the sensitivity of the crop. For further information. (See Tables 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, ANZECC 1992)

18 Incorrectly stated as 0.005 in the source document. This is the correct value as per the correction on the web site below

§ Source: National Environment Protection Council. 1999. National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure: Schedule B(1) Guideline on the Investigation Levels for Soil and Groundwater. [PDF files may be downloaded from http://www.ephc.gov.au/nepms/cs/con_sites.html]