New York Times article on air quality anxiety, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

- DEP BRNHazMat 11th fl 10:718-595-4422 OCT 11'01 14:47 No.004 P.04

professor of environmental mcdldue al the Now York University School of Medicine, who is involved In a pltioy II analyzing the coostlluenta In^jlu^t and SOOL i He said winds that tend to^wgep i pollution away during the daygohOX- ally ebb at night He also sald^taCas pavement and buildings cool al nl^, I there are fewer updrafts of w^njl ajr that stir the atmosphere and>l^ I. clear air from higher elevatioBsjiw ■ I dirtier air near the streets. The resuh/be said. Is that 1 A I persistent plume of emlsslwHito the attack sue “is. sort of proWfe I the city overnight, meanderingly^ I' , that's what Ihe/re 8incIling,T<.’5 » .• ’l .. Ue,' too, agreed with the authqnUes that there, was no sign of a w^ ' health risk to residents. but.hc^- 1. •I ly added that "prudent avplMee I remains the best approach .ferf^y ■i resident or worker downtown^!-;.;*; . “It’s a baste public health.prtioi- I , pal.” Dr. Thurewn said. '«H yblW^ avow-an exposure, you do so.*<<: Peter M. Iwanowic^ the di/ector i f t • of environmental health for1 the American Lung Association of. New York Stam, said his organlzatlonhad j been receiving calls from a ’steady ; siring of residents unnerved by the I ' persistently acrid air. ■ ■. • “The visceral human reaction to , I ' this is, this smell is not natural., so ' thore must be something wrong, . something toxic,” he said. But; «e added, smells can be a red hetrirfg: , “Take a skunk. What it lets looSels . ; pretty noxious, but it won't hurt you. Compare that to carbon monoxide, I which is odorless and chit klll .yOu.” , Over all, he said, the lung associa­ tion still tends to agree with .public officials that any threat is limited to : . possible aggravatlon of breathing I ■■

• problems la people prone to asthma . or. other respiratory allments. i./*' Other experts say there may be i .. other air Issues yet to emerged Al- • lercd traffic patterns and increased I congestion from heightened security at the city’s bridge's and tunnels,.for example, have created long. lijMS.'pf Idling vehicles, which pollutp ttie.nir Jar more than cars and trucks^hofr- ing on tho highways. Exhaust'.fronj ’i gasoline-fired electricity genaratow and diesel vehicles involved in: the cleanup arc another issue shoilld.be I, monitored over time, they say.-u >9 I But raw throau and sore ey^'.'orfe I environmental expert said, should i generally be likened to the effeCt-of f sitting by a.campfire. • i “If the smoke gets in your, eyes, I they burn. but U doesn't mennyjM're I »>lng to go Wind,” said Donald R. Blake, a professor of chemlslry-at the University of California atfrylnp. t “This is a tough,thing that people’in i .1 <■ New York are dealing with." hfrsidd. ■' “But we’re talking hcre abOutZ-a short-term, temporary problemJ?**// I • * S.*

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