Memo on Asbestos and Fiberglass Sampling Results, Apr 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

RP^x- .-2002 10:27 npyoR’S OFC of enu, codrd 212 999 7024 P.04^12

Both air and dust were sampled. This study showed no elevated levels of asbestos in indoor air samples. Low levels of asbestos were found in some dust samples, and low levels of fiberglass were found in some other dust samples. Two sites (both outdoors) required [and received? Check.] asbestos abatement Of dust samples from the lower Manhattan buildings, 41 percent had detectable fiberglass; 59 percent had none. The finding that none of the samples from above 59^^ St. had fiberglass points to the likelihood that the World Trade Center calamity was the source of the positive fiberglass results.

While these findings are not unexpected, while they do not raise a great level of concern, they do underscore the importance of continuing to use proper cleaning methods to minimize exposure, as the Health Department has repeatedly emphasized. The basic message of the advisories and fact sheets the Department has disseminated since September is that all residents of lower Manhattan should continue to clean frequently, using a wet or damp cloth or mop or a HEPA vacuum to clean hard surfaces and. using a HEPA vacuum to clean carpets and upholstery. Brooms and regular vacuum cleaners should not be used, and residents should not dry dust. The Department also continues recommending that shoes be removed and that pets' paws be wiped before entering the home so as to avoid tacking in dust.

We continue to enforce an October 19.2001, Order of the Commissioner of Health, directing that vehicles leaving the disaster site be spray washed and covered and that workers wash thoroughly before leaving the site, so as to minimize dust migration onto City streets and sidewalks or into vehicles and homes. We had issued more than 200 notices of violation by early March of this year.

As fires at the disaster site burned far longer than anticipated, many residents living and working in the community have reported short-term health effects, such as acute breathing problems; worsening of asthma; eye, nose, and throat Irritation; nausea, and headaches. Many residents also continue to experience significant psychological and stress-related illness and anxiety.

Stuyvesant High School students, who returned to their school on October 9,2001, reported similar complaints. A DOH analysis shows that the average daily rate of headaches, respiratory, skin, eye, throat, and injury complaints at Stuyvesant was higher than in the previous year, and higher than at four other NYC public high schools. The data also show that complaints decreased from October to November of 2001, and that, as expected, since the fires subsided and were extinguished in December, the numbers of complaints returned to those seen in the 1998-99 school year. We continue to monitor student complaints.

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