Asbestos contamination study excerpt, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Asbestos > '-J 0 higherin ■ ‘ifiw i.- ■ ” a . ..s newer test ° W. : J A sbestos contamination inside buildings near L\ the World Trade Center site may be far worse J .xjLthan government officials have reported, ac­

Vi u-M cording to a new study by a top private toxicology firm. The collapse of the twin towers Under U.S. Environmental Pro- Agency’s standard, 70 fi- pulverized much of the asbestos bers per square millimeter tng- I itiii into such microscopic particles 8®*^. “*■ asbestos decon- that many fibers were not large taction procedures m public enough to be caught in tests done schools. Of the samples tested un- by government safety monitors, ^be more stnngent method says a team of scientists from HP 1?^®® samples had more than 300 Environmental Inc., a Virginia- fibers - more than four tunes the I based company that oversaw toxi- EPA stentod — and one regis- cology analyses at the World tered 369 fibers. Trade Center after the 1993 at- Scientist’s warning tack. rphat is a “magnitude of fibers E- The firm spent 15 days last X that it would be best not to ig- month studying health hazards nore,” Chmielinski warned. faced by cleanup crews working “What’s inside the buildings is for a real estate company that the result of what got introduced owns two office buildings north during the first explosions,” said of Ground Zero. Dr. Stephen Levin of the Selikoff “In the beginning we were get- Center for Occupational Safely ting clean results, or no [asbes- and Health and Mount Sinai Medi- tos],” said Piotr Chmielinski, one cal Center. Levine said he is far

Bi- of the scientists ■ T who worked on the study. “Until more worried about indoor contamination we discovered that a lot of dust JUAN 0 than of asbestos levels on the

1 and other partic­ ulates in our sam­ ples were obscur­ ing the tiny as­ GONZALEZ "I streets outside. , “The smaller the particle ... the easier job bestos fibers in ____________ _____________ that it has pene- the back- trating right * ground.” down into the very depths of the Many indoor tests being done lungs,” said one of Levine's col- by federal or local health officials leagues. Dr. Philip Landrigan, di- or by private cleanup companies rector of environmental and occu- use a testing procedure called national medicine at Mount Sinai. phase contrast microscopy, which ePA and local health officials only detects asbestos fibers of at have said repeatedly that asbestos w least 5 microns in size, Chmielin- levels in outside air have only oc- DISASTER ZONE Water pumped onto smoldering rubble creates steam yesterday at Ground sldsaid. . , casionally exceeded levels of con- But when Chmielinski and the Asbestos is known to cause Zero. Tests have found higher asbestos levels than previously measured in nearby buildings. teams leader, Hugh Granger, asbestosis, or scarring of the used a more exart--and more lungs and lung cancer. pensive method of analysis, Asbestosis results only from electron microscopy, the same ,ong.term exposure, but when it d1 to^ Fund to help save historic buildings ‘^^ncer, there is no safe cheaper method showed far great- Uvel of exnosure er amount of asbestos. reassuring I

Testing 3 blocks away the public, EPA officials distrfbut- The creation of an emergency fund to aid and World Monuments Rmd, the Washington-based rphe team took 11 air samples ed respirators late last week to *«? Uli restore historic buildings in lower Manhattan af­ National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Al­ X on different floors of two their employees in the Federal ter the World Trade Center attacks was an­ bany-based Preservation League of New York buildings that were up to 3 blocks Building. The handouts came in nounced yesterday by five historic preservation State, the 108-year-old Municipal Art Society from the Trade Center site. Using response to complaints from the groups. and the New York Landmarks Conservancy. the cheaper and less exart meth- employees of terrible air quality ba There are 67 official landmarks south of Each group is contributing $10,000 to the Low­ od, only two of those samples re- in the building, a few blocks from Vi; Chambers St., including Federal Hall, Trinity er Manhattan Emergency Preservation Rmd. vealed asbestos levels higher than the Trade Center site. Church and a “world-renowned array of 20th The money will be managed by the Rmd for the federal permissible, exposure lim- epa spokeswoman Mary Helen City of New York. its. , Cervantes said the masks were Pi^ century skyscrapers,” the groups said. Organization leaders said humanitarian aid re­ But when they examined those distributed for the voluntary use am “While none of these historic resources has mains New York’s top priority. However, they same samples under the electron of those employees who might yet been lost, some suffered damage and the full said they’re being contacted by those eager to microscopy procedure, which cap- have respiratory ailments or who extent of the toll is uncertain at this time,” the aid the recovery “of one of the nation’s oldest tures much smaller particulates, feel some temporary discomfort announcement said. and most historic downtowns.” they found that seven of the 11 from the air. The five organizations are the city-based Owen Moritz samples had asbestos levels E-mail: above federal standards. \ [email protected]

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