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Z ~A NATION CHALLENGED: The Aftermath in New York z o

s THE AIR QUALITY

Air Quality Readings professor of environmental medldne at the New York University Schodlof co

'2 o o I i .^Contaminants Below Levels ^.osOKSr- • MANHATTAN Results of safety teas at four stations downtown. LEAD SMALL PABTICLE OUST ASBESTOS Medicine, who is involved in a study analyzing the constituents In dt&t and soot w He said winds that tend to sw^ep ■a c CT o' cn KJ Long-Term Concerns micrograms per cubic meter tr^igrarrs per cubic meter structures per square millimaler' pollution away during the day gener­ ally ebb at night He also said that as pavement and buildings cool at night U o o 3-

■ KJ By KIRK JOHNSON itseU, but disperse so quickly into the there are fewer updrafts of warm_alr 03 -• O-. r with ANDREW C. REVKIN envirohment that sensors a block or to •! so 5 70 that stir the atmosphere and bIrad ThequaUtyof the air has become a “"“y show no measurement at i GasrawwcHsr- I 9 -tussAvsr SAFETY UMITS clear air from higher elevations with o o •. matter of widespread anxiety among .. , ,. . ■. SO dirtier air near the streets. , o 3 I The result he said, is that the faint c "people who live or work in Lower BSCTWSt-n • __ J I 30 3 ;':&attan - anxiety compounded raging, often emottonal debate atat I 30 persistent plume of emissions from 3 in many cases by of^ dlsbeUef in “h-1^ the attack site “is sort of prowQng CD "'"assurances from government and reiving arou^ the quests of as- ........ aBresiAs ....... the city overnight meandering. And ,Q werebOosr that's what they're smelling.” —public health ofBctels that the air Festos, have left many residents “ ■ tieiecablelirno ■■■■ 1 10 He, too, agreed with the authorities I generaUy safe to breathe. exposure that they do that there was no sign of a clear I ___ ■» 1 M M "■^ Local residents and workers In ‘‘hy government 12 3 4 12 3 4 I 2 3 4 health risk to residents, but he quick­ "■downtown bundings say they fear «« “*« turn up negaUve do not '— Stations—' ly added that “prudent avoidance that burning eyes, runny nosM and «?“everything, either. •E.P.A. standards remains the best approach for any ‘hreau - common mala- W’ Soun»:AaelaittaAssociateit. LLC Ite New Yortt Times resident or worker downtown." ; -,»es below 14th Street, especially at S? “It's a basic public health prlnci- • night — could be an indicator of raw and raggeaz paL” Dr. Thurston said. “If you can .-.“^metl^ worse that is not being - ' avoid an exposure, you do sa” i Se“Z^eofir”^"S« ture’rt elements tlmt people were Peter M. Iwanowicz, the dire^r of environmental health lor '"the Yi^^tobeapr^r^town aXhU“te2iS^ American Lung Association of New '*®re at their worst Some predict & York State, said his organization had been receiving calls from a steady there could be more cases of 9 string of residents utmerved by the - * asthma in the city over time, though persistently acrid air. ; O,',. k., - ___ ""“t say that one-time exposures, “The visceral human reaction to But independent testing by a com* even if severe are senerallv .; pany hlr^ by 'Die New York Times shrugged off by the body. Different this is, this smell is not natural, so „., has concluded that the outdoor street «,ays of measuring aslLtos have ® there must be something wrong, level au in the vicinity of the trade ^XSedSSSStteTS^aiSS F something toxic,” he said. But, he added, smells can be a red herring: ■....»‘“ttewlwtaw^ espei^ lead panicles of asbestos fibers that “Take a skunk. What it lets loose is ; ..and asbest^ In leve s clem to ^ghj be dangerous. pretty noxious, but it won’t hurt you. ...jalse tong-term pubUc health con- ^^6 results obtained by The Compare that to carbon monoidde, cent The risul s according to the Times, and interviews with Inde- which is odorless and can kill you.” hyjWelaide Aviates of pendent health experts around the oR Over all, he said, the lung associa­ Brewster, N.Y, essentially mirrored country and at the E.P.A, also sug- Ki tion still tends to agree with public the tlndings that haye been reached gest strongly that emotion and anxl- S officials that any threat is limited to and widely reported by the federal ety have elevated concerns about the possible aggravation of breathing Environmental Protection Agency. air far beyond the levels shared by Kg problems in people prone to asthma “PP®” most scientists and public health ex- or other respiratory ailments. ^,,theE.PA. and New York City claims pgrts. Other experts say there ma/ be that there are no significant health “There’s little risk to the general other air issues yet to emerge.;Al- '. risks,” the report said. public of any ongoing air pollution NH tered traffic patterns and Increased -Adelaide sampled air for asbestos related to the World Trade Center,” congestion from heightened security and lead and fine particle dust and said Patrick L. Kinney, an associate iw at the city’s bridge’s and tunnels, for found that, in all three categories, professor of environmental health K example, have created long lines of ,„,levels were below the federal govern- sciences at Columbia University, W Idling vehicles, which pollute die' air ..... meat’s health standards. One of the who has monitored air testing results M far more than cars and trucks niov- company’s four monitoring stations, and was briefed about Adelaide’s Ing on the highways. Exhaust from , the comer of Rector and Green- findings --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ______________ _______ ____ ____ gasoline-fired electricity generators wlch, exceeded the E.PX's safety Professor Kinney and other ex­ . ... ... . , „ . Ktoiete.«te»^te.Y««*i^ and diesel vehicles Involved in'the standard for asbestos, but was below pens say that the raw throats and An environmental scientist removing an air quahty sample from an Environmental Protection Agency station cleanup are another Issue should be "‘the standards set by the Occupation- sinuses that many residents and near Pine and William Streets. Downtown residents are worried about what they may be breathing. monitored over time, they say. ‘ al .Safety and Health Administration, workers complain about are In fact ------------------------------------------------ But raw throats and sore ejres, 'one —• Air testing, how it works and what it mostly evidence of the body’s defen- by Adelaide which also confirms re- E.P.A. and most testing organiza­ more readUy attacked and removed environment^ expert said. *^d “-reveals or does not, has ^me part sive systems. Large particles of dust cent government tests. tions, including Adelaide. by the body’s Internal defenses, most E.e"e''aUy be likened to the effort of

satwtsarws. Scientists say that there is genuine studies say. Other impressions by residents do sitting by a campfire. m^vS^

cleanup site are genuine. Respira- ... tory protection for cleanup crews. s’sss5«ss?s2*: lungs. Smaller particles, called respira- debate on that point, but that by an . . 5. overwhelming number, studies on have a basis in science, envlronmen- gested, for example, that the small- asbestos exposure have found the tai experts said. For example, there est asbestos fibers, smashed Into tiny larger particles to be (ar more dan­ appears to be a tendency for the they burn, but it doesn t mean you re blind,” said Donald R, , professor of chemistry at the University of California at Irvine, „ physicians say, remains essential, ble dust, which can penetrate deeply pieces by the cataclysm when the gerous because they tend to embed smell and air quality to worsen at "This is a tough thing that people in 'Volatile organic compounds like ben- into the lungs and are a greater twin towers collapsed, could be more themselves in lung issue. Smaller nighL and this is consistent with the New York are dealing with,” he said. '"'zene, for example, have been meas- health concern, were not found in dangerous than the 0.3 micron-and- fibers, though they can penetrate way air circulates in the city, said "But we're talking here about a ured directly tn the smoke plume significant quantities at street level larger size that are measured by the more deeply into lungs, can also be Dr. George D. Thurston, an associate short-term, temporary problem.”