CDC press conference notes regarding anthrax investigation, undated

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Air near Ground Zero ■D M O O 3. cn Ca3 BY THE NUMBERS 91 O The Occupstlonal Safety and Health Administration has set an o o c ' exposu.e limit for asbestos at .1 fibers per cubic centimeter during any eight-hour period. The following measurements 3

is rated safe by feds CD were taken from Sept. 13 to 27:

\ T 4 Vs-— gs & t < S • By nun. HK SHIN al hygienist for the New York HOTZONE OAlUr NEWS STAFF WRITER (Committee for Occupational upto The levels of cancer-causing asbestos and other Safety and Health. The conunit- material stiU lingering in the air in lower Manhattan So“b2SuniLn remain below limits considered a health risk, federal members working near Ground _ >5; authorities said yesterday. And asbestos is not the only * ij But with hundreds of tons of suits of its own monitoring last hazard, he said. If hazardous material still buried week. Using methods different “Even in the absence of toxic among the rubble of the World from OSHA, the EPA said asbes­ components, the dust poses res­ Trade Center, experts cautioned iii< tos levels at times spiked to near­ piratory hazards, particularly to workers at Ground Zero to keep * ' iki" ly twice the permissible limit, people with pre-existing respira­ wearing respirators. Air qualify samples taken be­ but overall, cancer-causing as­ tory conditions such as asthma HUDSON Riven 'wSSSr>' I bestos found in the air and dust , or bronchitis,” Newman said. I'jh upto tween Sept. 13-27 at the rubble at Ground Zero and surround- ' Meanwhile, the EPA conduct­ >' .041 • .‘jf

pile’s so-called hot zone detect­ ing areas were mostly at low lev­ ed a whirlwind cleanup of Wash­ WARM ZONE ia,i ''inwmpar'.iR ■jr

ed airborne asbestos and fiber­ els. ington Market Park at Cham­ upto i^uWe centimeter ■ it glass at levels that at one point bers and Greenwich Sts. after a .086 topped .1 fibers per cubic centi­ Can scar lungs community group conduct­ flbon p©r < V. TERlhfW, ..,1 meter — the safety limit set by With prolonged exposure, as­ localed asbestos testing and found cubb centimeter . the federal Occupational Safety bestos fibers can scar lung tis­ levels at times twice the permis­ and Health Administration. sue and eventually cause cancer. sible limit. The EPA hauled Though a few weeks is not con­ away all the sand in the play­ .9 But 90%-95% of those fibers Hot Zone WtermZfHm Flnaneial were found to be fiberglass and not asbestos. And samples sidered enough to cause scar­ ground and even some top soil ring, health experts warned that from surrounding area, sr'd (rubUo plie) OSHA has District 1 OSHA took 72 collected OSHA has taken taken outside the hot zone have the government limits do not Parks Commissioner Heniy samples in the hot more than about 40 samples. shown levels that OSHA consid­ necessarily mean it is risk free. Stem. zone. 90% to 95% 150 samples it ceased ers well below permissible lev­ “It’s okay legally, but it’s not “It’s more as a precaution that of the fibers fopnd in the Warm sampling in the els of exposure. necessarily okay medically be­ the sand was removed,” Stem were fiberglass rather Zone through Financial District The Environmental Protection cause there’s no known safe said. “When something like this than asbestos. Sept. 24. on Sept. 21. Agency, which also is keeping level of exposure to asbestos,” happens, you want people to be tabs on air quality, released re- said David Newman, an industri- comfortable.”

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