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NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

9/11 DustSeen As Less Toxics Than Feared s Scientist Says Exposi^ May Not Be Significa& c o r c o e e co 6. 30 3 0OqO 330 By ANDY NEWMAN .XZ! 'c ® e c : 0^30 3-3 3 3-3 G f - The soot in the air of Lower Manhattanln C O< G GO• G G 3 33 3 3 3 3 3• 3 the first few days after the Sept 11 attach was less likely to cause cancer and o^r eCOeS 0 0 3 3’3 3-3-3 3»3\ long-term health problems than many Ind 3 0 <"3 O O •<‘3033 33 3030 33 feared, according to a report released jSs- c oe c ? :: • • iv- G G 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3: terday. The report, by a team of en'_____ c o < c o• DO 3 scientists studying the pollution caused 0 0 0 0 OiQ O O O Q OO O O Q O O O D the burning and collapse of the World “ Center towers, found that dust pa collected at 14 sites from Sept 12 throt 2001, were primarily larger than much more dangerous particles thafwc more likely to lodge deeply in the lungs eaSi stay there. The larger particles are mSS . easily expelled. ***" “That means,’’ said Paul Lioy, one of-the authors of the study, “in terms of potenSS lifetime exposures, we’re probably goinsS be very lucky in that these may not-be exposures of significant health risk.’’ The degree of environmental risk caused by the destruction of the towers has been the subject of clamorous debate since before the dust even settled. Many rescue workers and nearby resi­ dents have complained of respiratory prob­ lems and have accused the authorities of withholding information. The federal Envi-

Most particles were of an easily expelled type, a study says.

c or 0 D 3 D D'D-D. ronmental Protection Agency took the un­ usual step this year of promising to clean up C ® (. , C 3 • • 02303 3 3 0 3 3 3 J and test apartments in the entire area south C O < : C O • O 3 0 3 3 3 3 3 « 3 3 \3 of Canal Street The study is to Jae published in the Febru­ । 0 <> C 3 C O • G G 3 3.-3O 3 3 O'W 3 3 2 ary issue of Environmental Science & Te^- O O <• O--O C • r G'3:3"O'3 3 3 3 3 3 0 3 nology, a peer-reviewed Journal of the , C • G • • C 0'0 3:3 3 3 3 3 3 3’0 I' American Chemical Society, which is a sd* c c c o®ro 3 □D D3 DDDD« 'entific and not an industry-sponsored group. The report is available on the society’s Web O0CG-GGOG3 3 3 3 3 3 0 3 3 3 3 site at wwwjara^g^---- Dr. Lioy.'the asSMiate director of die Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, which is affiliated with Rutgers University, cautioned that the study did not determine how much of vari­ ous particles people may have inhaled near I ground zero. ” ! But Dr. Lioy said it was a positive sign that the finer particles—those smaller than 2.5 millionths of a meter—appeared to have made up less than 1 percent by weight of the million or so tons of dust produced by the disaster. In normal air, he said, fine parti­ cles make up 20 percent to 30 percent of the total mass of particulates. But Peter Montague, the director of the Environmental Research Foundation, a public-interest group based in New Bruns­ wick, N.J., said that the quantity of fine particles remained troubling. “One percent of a million tons is 10,000 tons,’’ he said. “So you’ve got 10,000 tons <3 I Continued on Page B2

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