New York Times article on air quality anxiety, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document DEP BANHazMat 11th fl -—_ NYC-WTC_000142093 1D:718-595-4422 OcT 11°01 14:43 No.004 P.02 1 ' A NATION CHALLENGED: The Aftermath in New Yor] THE AIR QUALITY Contaminants Below Levels For Long-Term Concerns By KIRK JOHNSON with ANDREW C, REVKIN The quality of the air has become a matter of widespread anxiety among people who live or work in Lower Manhattan — anxisty compounded in many cases by open disbelief in assurances from government and public health officials that the air, while acrid and sometimes smelly, is generally safe to breathe. Lecal residents and workers in downtown buildings say they {car that burning eyes, runny noses and ‘scratchy throals — common mala- dies below 14th Street, especially at night — could be un indicator of something worse that ts not being measured at all, For many people, the plume of dust and smoke that ‘continues to be » presence downtown thas become part of the nightmare itself: in an altered New York, oven the air, it seems, Is no longer what it was. But independent testing by a com- pany hired by The New York Times has concluded that the outdoor street ‘level air in the vicinity of the trade ceniur site does not contain poisons or toxic substances, especially lead and asbostos, in levels sufficient ta ‘raise long-term public health con- cern, The results, according to the report by Adelaide Associates of Brewrter, N.Y., cSsentially mirrored the findings that have been reached and widely reported by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, “Adelaide’s conclusions support the E.P.A, and New York City claims that there are no significant health risks,” the report said, Adolaide sampled air for asbestos and leud and fine particle dust and found that, in all three categories, levels were below the federa} govern- mont’s health standards. One of the company’s four monitoring stations, at the corner of Rector and Green- wich, excecded the E.P.A.’s safety standard for ashestos, but was below the slandards sct by the Occupation- al Sufcty and Health Administration. Air testing, how it works and what it reveals or docs not, hus become part of the uneasy fabric of Ufe In the areas uround the disaster site. And health exports stress that the risks to workers directly at the ground zero cleanup site are genuine. Respira- tory protection for cleanup crews, physicians suy, remains essential ‘Volatile organic compounds like ben- zene, for example, have been meas- ured directly in the smoke plume rv itself, but disperse so quickly into the enviranment that sensors a block or e away show no measurement at all. But the experts also suy that the raging, often emotional debate about air issues downtown, many uf them revolving uround the question of as- bestwws, have left many residents deeply misinformed ubout the rela- tive risks of exposure thut they do face every day. And government tests that turn up negative da not seem to explain everything, efther. Why, for oxamplo, does the air these days make a person’s throat feel so raw and ragged? Health oxperis say there are also many unknowns about the oxact mix- ture of elements that people were oxposed to in tho early days after the attacks, when the stnoke and dust were at their worst. Some predict that there could be more cases of asthma tn the city over time, though most say that one-time exposures, even if severe, are gonerally shrugged off by the body. Different ways of meusuring asbestos have also raised concerns that thy govern- ment tests do not pick up supursmall particics of asbestos fibers that might be dangerous. But the results obtaincd by The Times, and interviews with indo- pendent health experts around the country and at the E.P.A., also sug- gest strongly that. emotion and anxi- cty have clevated concerns about the air far beyond the levels shared by most scientists and public health ex- perts, “¥here’s little risk to the general public of any ongoing air pollution related to the World ‘Trade Center,” sald Patrick L. Kinney, an associate professor of environmental beulth sciences at Columbia University, who has monitored air testing results and was briefed about Adelaide’s findings. . Professur Kinncy and other ex- perts say that the raw throats and sinuses that many residents and workers complain about ure in fact mostly evidence of the body’s defen- sive systems. Largo parliclos of dust that get trapped in nasal and throat passages trigger irritation, but that | also means that most of the particics are not making it ail the way.to the lungs. Smuller particles, called respira- ble dust, which can penetrate decply into the lungs and are a greater health concern, were not found in significant quuntities at street level s ™ aT ae - re ee mn _—- — Ye ah x