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Amid UricMainty and Confusion, Residents Weigh Sept. M Health Risks, ^ z o SS _k 1^ ■ ' - . 'y.-, . 'I .tlfically alrttght. Sir obvious. Because there "0 o has been Uttle govemment tesflng of apart- j c o o O1 hO molts for air quality - and some tests I conducted months ago have still not been' | published —there Is no public body of facts, 81 CT o' "0 o no set of numbers that can bestow a feeling o ro of certainty. Some building owners have had a. ro their properties privately tested; others 03 have not And every test that is dtme be- _ o comes ammunition for one side or another o —those who see great risk and those who do not 2 o c How to clean an apartment or an office 3 that was contaminated, how to know when it CD 3 is clean enough, whether to pay for expen­ sive tests or filters, whether to worry about how well .the nel^ibors cleaned their apart­ ments and* rooftops, are all questions that have for the most part been left to individual tenants, owners and workers. "People have essentially been left to their own devices,” said Representative Jerrold Hadler, a Democrat from Manhattan who represents downtown, aid who believes that what he calls the microclimates of down­ town — the homes and offices, the personal spaces and lives of residents and workers— have been mostly n^lected in file disaster response. But New; Yorkers have not waited for Science and government to catch up. In the same energetic, impatient ways that have always sh^ied the city’s character, they have simply gotten on with things. ' Beth Kaltman, 22, a model, cleaned her own apartment using paper towels. So did pr. Jessica Leighton, an assistant commis­ sioner of risk and environmental communi­ cation at the New York Qty Department of Health.’ Noreen Hennessy and her husband, Elliot __ Edward Keatlagmie Nev Yori TJafS Freeman, who live on Warren Street, a few blocks from the disaster site, hired profes­ It is difficult to gauge the lingering effects of dust and smoke that seeped into neaihy residents’ homes after the attack on the World Trade Center, environmental experts say. sional cleaners. In the converted factory building (Hl Broadway where Phoebe Kauf­ man and her family live, some people ripped up their floors. Some-monied up and vacu­ umed, and others never came back. =I Phodie’s father, Frederick Kaufman, in­ stalled filters to cover the air ducts that connect to the rest of the building, working on the theory that dirtier air from other apartments or common areas of the bund­ le could infiltrate. He cannot say that this, tike throwing away Phodie’s artwork, was a necessary step; he also cannot say, when It comes to the health of Us daughter and his son, Julian, 2, that it was not necessary, either. , "You can no longer say this is a rational reQxmse, or is an emotkmal response, you]usttiavetosay,tUsiswhatIhavetodo to fed safe,’,’ he said. And without conclu­ ■ I sive data, people also have Uttte basis of defending file decisions they do make, he said. f “Anybody doing more cleaning than I is a. The parents of Phoebe Kaufman, 5, saved only one piece Alan De Klerk and his wife plan to send their dat^hter, Beth Kaltman cleaned her own apartment tn Battery /anatlc, and anybody doing less is crazy,” he of her artwork in the cleanup effort since returning home. Madison, 7, back to Public School 89 when it reopens. Park City, where she has a view overlooking the Hudswu said. - ... ....................... .........------------------------------------------------------ ---- - ---------- . - .............. . . ...... . ------ --- :.~r