News article on health risks from WTC dust, Oct 2002

9G/1L71000 OLM-OAN a cha say: dence of health ptoblems among respond: "l 49708 ¢ | + Tete me Oh we By LM UBy & : hd theasute specific substaiices, such as residents’ living near Ground Zero. Many fa By Susan Q. Stranahan a 1 benzene led or POBE. As. _iubstaties, ius te eople hi ve suffered from coughs, nosebleeds and PHAWENTY years from now, will the World! take:int 6.account a far more likely scenario! expo-'! espiratory. ailments triggered by the enormous Trade Center disaster continue to claim vic-| Ste toa chemical “soup” such as the one that wag |Amounts of dust and debris in the air. Some of \dk: tims? Will the tragedy be compounded by a given off when the contents of the World Trade these are: probably temporary ‘irritations; ot ere 1088 of life that had less to do with terrorism than’ Center burned. _ ne “"" fifidy be far more serious. ce with ignorance? In the haste to return Lowér ., Having pent several years gathering. health}| - In recent weeks, concern has grown about lev- Manhattan to a sense of normalcy, have addition! data on'more.than 200 firefighters ahd emergen-|lela ofiasbestos permeating.the air of Lower Man. al lives been put at risk? Nobody can answer,-CY workers who fought a 1978 hazardous-waste' hattan and about repeated assurances by the En- those questions. : fire in Chester, a. I am well awan; : Phew vironmental Protection Agency that the air is _, Butt the issue of long-term health implications! 18 known about the iong-term effects, In thet see (af: The EPA's handling of air-quality data is for-all those at or near Ground, Zero since the ca-| 0-fire or rescue workers were killed at the Case, ithe subject of an internal investigation launched tastrophie must not be swept away along with the| of the fire, but eventually more than 40 of the time bY.avency ombudsman Robert Martin. thillion.tons of twisted steel and rubble. Sure, sev-| P!¢ at the scene were stricken with serious di ‘Peo: "The studies under way will certainly provide eral.small studies have begun, most focusing on N. including cancer. Of that group, 28 are deed, ‘some: useful data. One will follow at least 200.con- discrete groups of the population, but none has the one can say with certainty that the cause: oe. struction workers at Ground Zero. Another will at- ‘the funding-or capacity to-match the. scale of the e chemicals they encountered but their fata . tempt to-locate all pregnant women living or work- disaster. . oe and the uncertainty of what will happen anne ing noar Ground. Zero to ascertain what effect, if - Consider the tip.of Manhattan an ideal laborato} . eagands ‘of Professionals and civilians: “whip any, .: fenatal stress or environmental contami- ry and’all who.worked or lived. there in the dav [26d to the World Trade Center — cries out fdr arity may have on their babies. A third is at- “atid weeks. after Sept. 11 as prime candidates | Yestigation, “++ tempting to identify hundreds of day labortrs 8:-huge health study that may finally prove-w bes le study of those exposed in Manhattan mugt WHO Were hired to clean office buildings and resi- we don’t know: how resilient the human body, 7° started imniediately and continued for thetwe dences, few of whom were provided with ade- when bornbarded with a plethora of natural. Cecades ot more it takes for certain diséases ase quate protective equipment. These small surveys, man-made chemicals. _ ns: fone » to’ déVelop. Perhaps’ it’ will tora ‘dp while helpful to segments of the affected popula- - There is real reason for concern.. Many of Bi mB. Ce ‘ so tion; ¢arinot take the place of a.large study anda air-quality, standards used by the ml Sa jut it must be undertaken, if only to reassure tacking program that. encompasses everyone - Protettion Agericy, the. Occupational. Safety: all Ainetic ans that the existing framework ofeny;?- | who was at the scene. Looby: Héalth Administration ad others date to} ihe thee and occupational regulations protect. -«If-any city is equipped to oversee such a pro- ed. a tof the oes is performing as intéfid. gram, it would be New York. Yet, to date, no one ery efforts, there should * llars devoted to recov. _has:stepped forward to offer the critical element: fir: “Wucister pe ane an © money put aside to money.. That’ rhust come from Washington, fo: saya Steph Sanically assess these people,” —_this isa national pitblié-héalth issue. . Moun ephen. Levin, medical director of the Hon” Rinai-Irving.J, Selikoff Center. for Occupa- jona god Environmental Medicine in New York. ‘Fro 1 thé beginning, Levin and his colleagues Newsday /24)2 JUSUUNDOG [BYOd IIIqnNd LL/6 OAN