Newspaper article on air quality concerns, Lower Manhattan

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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HUDSON st:- MANHATTAN Air Quality Readings ,0 . 4 • CHAMBERS ST. Results of safety tests at four stations downtown. LEAD SMALL PARTICLE DUST ASBESTOS micrograms per milligrams per ' structures per cubic meter cubic meter square millimeter*

50 5 70 SAFETY LIMITS * GRESN^^ICHST- ~ NASSAU ST. 50 30 3 ■ 3 EXCHANGE PL.. 30 .......all results ............... .J Q were below .......detectable-limits • ■ • • 1 10

j • Air sampling ' j stations k ’ 12 3 4 12 3 4 12 3 4 I I— Stations —' 'E.P.A. standards ..— I Source: Adelaide Associates, LLC The New York Times

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I hl I Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times I An environmental scientist removing an air quality sample from an Environmental Protection Agency station I near Pine and William Streets. Downtown residents are worried about what they may be breathing. I ■ by Adelaide, which also confirms re- E.P.A. and most testing organiza- more readily attacked and removed I cent government tests. tions, including Adelaide. . by the body’s internal defenses, most I Other concerns have been raised about supersmall particles of asbes- Scientists say that there is genuine debate on that point, but that by an studies say. Other impressions by residents do I ’ tos. Recent news reports have sug- overwhelming number, studies on have a basis in science, environmen­ I gested, for example, that the small- asbestos exposure have found the tal experts said. For example, there est asbestos fibers, smashed into tiny larger particles to be far more dan- appears to be a tendency for the, I pieces by the, cataclysm when the gerous because they tend to embed smell and air quality to worsen at themselves in lung issue. Smaller night, and this is consistent with the I twin towers collapsed, could be more dangerous than the 0.5 micron-and- fibers, though they can penetrate way air circulates in the city, said larger size that are measured by the more deeply into lungs, can also be Dr. George D. Thurston, an associate : > U -.

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