CDC press conference notes regarding anthrax investigation, undated

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

V f Dust and Its Effects checked for breathing problems in quality. But the results of tests for 400 firefighters. But officials say that organic compounds, including diox­ for the moment they do not have the ins, will not be know for at least a money to do the same for every few more weeks, university scien­ firefighter who went to the site. tists said. The 400 firefighters in the Initial Dr. Lioy says the New Jersey envi­ project are broken into four groups: ronmental institute is also studying 10 those exposed to large amounts of dust samples, with some of the ma­ smoke in the moments before the terial sent to nine different laborato­ towers collapsed, those who arrived ries for special tests. Id after the collapse, some who were on Any risk from exposure will even­ m the scene in the first week and a tually become clear, he said. “Over •fl group who for various reasons had time,” he said, “you’ve had a whole ’ u minimal exposure. host of people who may have been J By comparing their long-term exposed not only to different levels, j health and details of their exposure, but the character of the exposure S the department will be able to deter- changed. First you had the workers mine whether the emissions from the scattered and enveloped in the dust, - 1 wreckage contained any unusually then the glorious firefighters, the vol­ I toxic Ingredients, said Dr. Kerry Kel­ unteers, then people downwind in ' ly, the chief medical officer for the Fire Department. Separately, tests commissioned by construction companies and building Looking for hidden owners have begim to reveal the ingredients in the dust and smoke. perils in the ash and Tests conducted by HP Environ­ mental, MVA Inc. and other com­ dust of the disaster. mercial laboratories have isolated fragments of celling tile, carpet fi­ bers, paper, hair and concrete pound­ Battery Park City or Brooklyn. ed so fine that embedded crystals, “We don’t quite know the whole ' formed when it hardened, came un­ picture yet, but it’s something we . glued. have to learn.” I “That’s something you rarely see The Environmental Protection ’ on its own,” said Dr. James R. Mil- Agency has separately been testing lette, the executive director of MVA the persistent smoke plumes rising ; Inc., in Norcross, Ga. The private from the smoldering wreckage, and tests have produced new evidence has found no signs of dioxins, PCB’s that the extraordinary force of the or other toxic organic compounds, ' building collapses pulverized materi­ agency officials said. ; als into unusually fine motes — in­ For the moment, efforts to enlist cluding asbestos fibers. pregnant women in a long-term , I Dr. Millette said about 10 percent health study remain in the planning of a typical dust sample was the stage, said Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, ' finest powderlike particles. In the the director of the Center for Chil­ '.samples from around the attack site, dren’s Health and the Environment at least 30 percent of the dust was the at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. finest material. Organizers plan to send letters to j A few air samples collected by every obstetric practice in New York 'scientists from HV Environmental in City and its suburbs encouraging ' buildings two to four blocks north of doctors to ask women to participate, the trade center held traces of asbes­ he said. The medical school will also tos fibers, many of which were bro­ set up a testing and examination - ken into unusually minute bits that center at the attack site to monitor ' probably pose less of a health threat the health of construction workers ' than long fibers but which, in their and investigators who have settled in abundance, still pose some risks, sci­ for months. entists say. In the end, many health experts Over all, researchers have persis­ echoed the opinion of Dr. Landrigan, tently found only a few samples out­ who said that ultimately it was peo- ' side the blocks directly adjacent to pie working at the site who needed to the trade center with asbestos be most careful about limiting expo- ’ amounts topping various safety sure and keeping track of health standards. problems. At N.Y.U.’s laboratory, research­ “Someone who was just there for a ers are testing soot collected in fil­ few hours on the 11th and had mini­ ters on rooftops in Lower Manhattan. mal contact with dust since then may In one case, the sampling has been have some minute elevation of risk,” ' under way since November, provid­ he said. “But it would be impercepti­ ing a clear view of any changes in air bly small.”

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