New York Times article on WTC dust health risks

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By Laurie Garrett O o STAFF wsma o Elizabeth Eagle was living on the Lower East Side c two years ago, and her husband worked at American 3 fD Express across the street from the World Trade Cen­ Z1 ter. Shortly after the terror attack. Eagle, with no his­ I tory of pulmonary problems, experienced pain in her sinuses and trouble breathing. i “It turned out I had sinusitis, and I bad never I had a sinus infection in my life,” she said yester­ i day at the downtown Nelson Rockefeller Park. “In April [2002] I had sinus surgery at St Vincent’s.” She described the pain as “worse than delivering a 10-pound baby,” patting her 4-year-old son, Theo. “Fm scared now, about what happens 10 years firom now,” she said, “how it will affect 'Theo.” Eagle and others interviewed yesterday recalled , their experiences in the aftermath ofSept. 11,2001. , i I

Still Not Breathing Easy “My asthma got worse. You couldn’t breathe,” ment after the EPA issued reassuring statements. after the attack showed lung deficiency, Louis Trazi- no said yesterday. “I haven’t suffered any permanent o said a woman named Betty, an employee of a bank­ “I remember going into my apartment and with­ ing firm near the site. Interview^ yesterday in a in 20 minutes I had to get out. You could feel it in healtl) consequences I am aware of,” he said. “But I TriBeCa park, Betty and two co-workers, all of your throat,” she recalled. Fearful of the air quali­ know people who worked there who were physical whom declined to give their full names fearing re­ ty, Regan and her husband, both employed down­ specimens, and now they are sick and out ofwork.” prisals fi'om their employer, expressed'fear about town, threw out most of thieir furniture and appli­ Nakeema and Thomas Stefflbauer moved back the air they breathed and outrage at the Environ­ ances and abandoned lowef Manhattan. “How can into their Battery Park City apartment after the mental Protection Agency’s claims of air safety in we trust the government?” she asked yesterday. “I EPA pronounced the air safe. Building manage­ . the weeks after the attack. think' it’s One thing we vklue in this country — ment hired professional cleaners to remove fiie “I was put on [the inhaler) Ibuterol,” Betty’s truth. And now? Who knows?” dust from their home, but the Stefflbauers say i co-worker Jeane said. “I couldn’t breathe. And I Louis and Judy Trazino live near South Street they were never told the home should be cleaned I never had asthma or any problems before.” Seaport, about six blocks from Ground Zero, and with sophisticated HEPA filter vacuums, or that I The women said their employer ordered them back their daughters, 5-year-old Heather and 7-year-old their air conditioners should be replaced. The cou­ to their offices after the EPA said the downtown air Jill, attend school three blocks from the site. When ple suffered breathing problems for weeks, and Na­ 1 was “safe to breathe.” And “one by one, everybody got the attack occurred, Louis was on the school play­ keema awoke with painful headaches. • I sick,” co-worker Michelle said. “It was a sort of cold. ground with Jill — ^md mopaents later had donn^ “We are worried about what will happen when

i .. .And it would go on and on and on.” his firefighter’s uniform and made it to the site. they start building the new trade center,” Nakee­ Allison Regan returned to her Battery Park apart- “I had a cough for a long time,” and tests a month ma said. “Who do we trust? What do we do?”