inhalation of airborne vapor ug/L to mg/cubic meter

I have chemical concentrations that were found in groundwater. These chemicals are volatile so I am trying to calculate the chemical concentration in air.

How do I get from ug/L (chemical concentration in water) to mg/cubic meter (chemical concentration in air. this is a part of an environmental health project.

[JohnS]

Originally Posted by Unregistered-steve

I have chemical concentrations that were found in groundwater. These chemicals are volatile so I am trying to calculate the chemical concentration in air.

How do I get from ug/L (chemical concentration in water) to mg/cubic meter (chemical concentration in air. this is a part of an environmental health project.

It looks like you want to use Raoult's Law. I have never used it but here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoult%27s_law

Read the entire article. It looks like deviations from "ideal solution" are more the normal than say deviation from ideal gases.

You will need to know the molar concentrations of the chemicals in groundwater, and you will need to know the vapor pressure of each chemical over the pure chemical.

It is closely related to Henry's law which relates to the amount of a gas dissolved in a liquid. Note that both apply only in equilibrium and tell you nothing about the rate of diffusion between the liquid and gas states.