Newspaper article on air quality concerns, Lower Manhattan

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document iS

A NATION CHALLENGED: The Aftermath in New Yo

THE AIR QUALITY

Contaminants Below Levels For Long-Tenn Concerns By KIRK JOHNSON itself, but disperse so quickly into the with ANDREW C. REVKIN environment that sensors a block or P 1-3 The quality of the air has become a matter of widespread anxiety among, two away show no measurement at all. people who live or work in Lower: But the experts also say that the Manhattan — anxiety compounded raging, often emotional debate about in many cases by open disbelief in air issues downtown, many of them assurances from g-'vernment and revolving around the question of as­ public health officials that the air, bestos, have left many residents while acrid and sometimes smelly, is deeply misinformed about the rela­ generally safe to breathe. tive risks of exposure that they do Local residents and workers in face every day. And government downtown buildings say they fear tests that turn up negative do not that burning eyes, runny noses and seem to explain everything, either. scratchy throats — common mala­ Why, for example, does the air these dies below 14th Streei, especially at days make a person’s throat feel so night — could be an indicator of raw and ragged? something worse that is not being Health experts say there are also measured at all. For many people, many unknowns about the exact mix­ the plume of dust and smoke that ture of elements that people were continues to be a presence downtown exposed to in the early days after the has become part of the nightmare attacks, when the smoke and dust itself: in an altered New York, even were at their worst. Some predict that there could be more cases of the air, it seems, is no longer what it asthma in the city over time, though was. most say that one-time exposures, But independent testing by a com­ even if severe, are generally pany hired by The New York Times shrugged off by the body. Different has concluded that the outdoor street ways of measuring asbestos have level air in the vicinity of the trade also raised concerns that the govern­ center site does not contain poisons ment tests do not pick up supersmall or toxic substances, especially lead particles of asbestos fibers that and asbestos, in levels sufficient to might be dangerous. raise long-term public health con­ But the results obtained by The cern. The results, according to the Times, and interviews with inde­ report by Adelaide Associates of pendent health experts around the Brewster, N.Y., essentially mirrored country and at the E.P.A., also sug­ the findings that have been reached gest strongly that emotion and anxi­ and widely reported by the federal ety have elevated concerns about the Environmental Protection Agency. air far beyond the levels shared by “Adelaide’so concljs’ons support most scientists and public health ex­ the E.P.A. and New York City claims perts. that there are no significant health “There’s little risk to the general risks,” the report said. public of any ongoing air pollution Adelaide sampled air for asbestos related to the World Trade Center,” and lead apd fine particle dust and said Patrick L. Kinney, an associate found that, in all three categories, professor of environmental health levels were below the federal govem- sciences at Columbia University, inent’s health standards. One of the who has monitored air testing results company’s four monitoring stations, and was briefed about Adelaide’s at the comer of Rector and Green­ findings. wich, exceeded the E.P.A.’s safety Professor Kinney and other ex­ standard for asbestos, but was below perts say that the raw throats and the standards set by the Occupation- sinuses that many residents and I ■al Safety and Health Administration. workers complain about are in fact 1 Air testing, how it works and what it mostly evidence of the body’s defen­ r .reveals or does not, has become part sive systems. Large particles of dust I of the uneasy fabric of life in the that get trapped in nasal and throat areas around the disaster site. And passages trigger irritation, but that .health experts stress that the risks to also means that most of the particles workers directly at the ground zero are not making it all the way to the I cleanup site are genuine. Respira­ lungs. ; tory protection for cleanup crews, Smaller particles, called respira- j physicians say, remains essential. ble dust, which can penetrate deeply . Volatile organic compounds like ben­ into the lungs and are a greater zene, for example, have been meas­ health concern, were not found in ured directly in the smoke plume significant quantities at street level I.-..

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