NYC-WTC_000195822

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

2 HIS YOfiK TIMES, THURSDAY, DUTOHER H. 2001 B13

"fi, NATION CHALLENGED: The Aftermath in New York

THE AIR QUALITY professor of environmental medicine at the New York University School of Air Quality Readings Medicine, who is involved in a study ^.Contaminants Below Levels MANHATTAN

4 * CVMBEPSST Results of safety tests at four stations downtown. analyzing the constituents in dust and soot. . 5 CITY LEAD He said winds that tend to sweep Long-Term Concerns - I microgrsms per cubic 'iieier SMALL PARTICLE DUST milligrsms per cuPic meie: ASBESTOS sifuctjres per square millimeter' pollution away during the day gener­ ally ebb at night. He also said that as pavement and buildings coul at night, By KIRK JOHNSON itself, but disperse so quickly into the “utroNST 50 5 there are fewer updrafts of warm air with .ANDREW C. ReVKIN environment that sensors a block or 70 mniea •l ■»»,« i that stir the atmosphere and blend two away show no measurement at SAFETY LIMITS clear air from higher elevations with — The quality of the air has become a matter of widespread anxiety among all. : i aP££KiviCH sr- I -,WSS4L» ST I SO. dirtier air near the streets. '' people who live or work in Lower But the experts also say that the .Asrrc3s;.-i • •*'’<USZ ‘ Ibe result, he said, is that the faint raging, often emotional debate about .30 3. ''^:Manhattan — anxiety compounded I 2• ■ persistent plume of emissions from air issues downtown, many of them 30, the attack site ‘ is sort of prowling _ ,in many cases by open disbelief in revolving around the question of as­ .......... al' resul's

mi "'"assurances from government and the city overnight, meandering. And ^l-^jiblic health officials that the air, bestos, have left many residents that’s what they’re smelling.” '■' while acrid and sometimes smelly, is deeply misinformed about the rela­ ’-’l - ■ ■1 de:ec!3Jie lim,is He, too, agreed with the authorities . 'generally safe to breathe. tive risks of exposure that they do w w M —_ that there was no sign of a clear 1“".' Local residents and workers in face every day. And government tests that turn up negative do not -.-sisr’,. 12 3 4 12 3 4 12 3 4 health risk to residents, but he quick­ ■ downtown buildings say they fear Stations —J ly added that "prudent avoidance seem to explain everything, either, 'E PA standards remains the best approach fur any that burning eyes, runny noses and Why, for example, does the air these resident or worker downtown.” ^'.''.scratchy throats — common mala- Sa.rce Ad(‘if,-de Jssoc.aies. llC ■HieNcw York Times days make a person’s throat feel so "It’s a basic public health princi- .,;..^.ies below 14th Street, especially at raw and ragged? night — could be an indicator of pal,” Dr. Thurston said. "If you can Health experts say there are also .Xjsomething worse that is not being avoid an exposure, you do so.” many unknowns about the exact mix­ • measured at all. For many people, Peter M. Iwanowicz, the director the plume of dust and smoke that ture of elements that people were of environmental health for the exposed to in the early days after the - - continues to be a presence downtown attacks, when the smoke and dust American Lung Association of New ;.'.'lias become part of the nightmare York State, said his organization had were at their worst. Some predict itself; in an altered New York, even been receiving calls from a steady that there could be more cases of . the air, it seems, is no longer what it asthma in the city over time, though string of residents unnerved by the ,”.was. most say that one-time exposures, persistently acrid air. But independent testing by a com- "The visceral human reaction to '-'?pany hired by The New York Times even if severe, are generally shrugged off by the body. Different this is, this smell is not natural, so ,7.;. has concluded that the outdoor street ways of measuring asbestos have there must be something wrong, level air in the vicinity of the trade also raised concerns that the govern­ something toxic,” he said. But, he „ -center site does not coiitaui poisons ment tests do not pick up supersmall added, smells can be a red herring: ,,o,r toxic substances, especially lead particles of asbestos fibers that “Take a skunk. What it lets loose is _ and asbestos, in levels sufficient to might be dangerous. pretty noxious, but it won’t hurt you. '.'.'raise long-term public health con­ But the results obtained by The Compare that to carbon monoxide. cern. The results, according to the Times, and interviews with inde­ which is odorless and can kill you.” report by Adelaide Associates of pendent health experts around the Over all, he said, the lung associa­ Brewster. N.Y., essentially mirrored country and at the E.P.A., also sug­ tion still tends to agree with public the findings that have been reached gest strongly that emotion and anxi­ ollicials 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 problems in people prone to asthma “Adelaide’s conclusions support most scientists and public health ex- or other respiratory ailments. ^.^the E.P A. and New York City claims perts. Other experts say there may 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 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 at the city’s bridge’s and tunnels, for found that, in all three categories, professor of environmental health example, have created long lines of .levels were below the federal govern- sciences at Columbia Univers'ity, idling vehicles, which pollute the air , ment's health standards. One of the who has monitnred air testing results far more than cars and trucks mov­ company's four monitoring sta'ions, and was briefed about Adelaide’s ing on the highways. Exhaust from „ at the corner of Rector and Green- findings. gasoline-fired electricity generators I wich, exceeded the E.P.A.’s safely Professor Kinney and other ex­ Nicclc EengevenoZThe New York Times and diesel vehicles involved in ihe to "standard for asbestos, but was below An environmental scientist removing an air quality sample from an Environmental Protection Agency station perts say that the raw throats and cleanup are another issue should be ” 'the standards set by the Occupaiion- 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 eyes, one Air testing, how it works and what it mostly evidence of the body’s defen­ environmental expert said, should ■'-Yeveals or does not, has become part by Adelaide, which also confirms re­ E.P.A- and most testing organiza­ more readily a'.tooked and removed sive systems. Large particles of dust by the body’s internal defenses, most generally be likened to the effect of of the uneasy fabric of life in the cent government tests. tions, including Adelaide. that get trapped in nasal and throat sitting by a campfire. /areas around the disaster site. And passages trigger irritation, but that Other concerns have been raised Scientists say that there is genuine studies say. about supersmall particles of asbes­ Ocher impressions by residents do "If the smoke gels in your eyes, „i,beaith experts stress that the risks to also means that most of the particles debate on that point, but that by an they burn, but it doesn’t mean you’re .-btworkers directly at the ground zero are not making it all the way to the tos. Recent news reports have sug­ overwhelming number, studies on have a basis in science, environmen­ going to go blind,” said Donald R- cleanup site are genuine. Hespira- lungs. gested, for example, that the small­ asbestos exposure have found the tal experts said. For example, there co .« tory protection for cleanup crews, Smaller particles, called respira­ est asbestos fibers, smashed into tiny larger panicles to he far more dan-i appears to be a tendency for the Blake, a professor of chemistry at the Lniversiiy of California ai Irvine. 5 u,’.physicians say, remains essential. ble dust, which can penetrate deeply pieces by the cataclysm when the gerous because they lend 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^ night, 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 0.5 micrun-and- fibers, though ihey can penetrate way air circulates in ihe ciry, said "But we're talking here about a ,..ured directly in the smoke plume significant quantities at street level larper size that are nieasured by the mviv deeply into lunv*^. can also be

NYC-WTC_000195822