WTC toxins

[SergioL652 at aol.com]

I work for EPA Region 2, which is the Region which covers New York.  We 
started testing of the outside a few days after 9-11.  The reason for not 
testing sooner was that the priority on the first few days was with trying to 
find survivors, so things like protective equipment, health and safety plans, 
etc. wher not in place for about two weeks.  There were also so many 
different entities doing the removal work that enforcement of personal 
protective equipment was spotty.  The EPA employees working on other tasks 
reported to the Managers at the site whenever they saw a worker not using thw 
equipment (respirators, goggles, gloves, hard hats, etc) but they had no 
authority to stop work or to make workers wear it.  After a couple of weeks, 
things slowed down enough to implement worker protection.  

The results showed a spike of contaminants in the first few days, with levels 
going quickly down.  The bigest contaminan found was asbestos, but in very 
low levels.  One thing about the testing of air, dust, etc. in this situation 
is that there are no standards to compare the results to.  What that means is 
that if you get a result, you really have no way of knowing whether the level 
is dangerous or not.  

EPA did not test indoor air quality, nor indoor dust, debris, etc. in the 
beginning, deferring to the State and City, which did nothing.  We are now 
developing a study to test indoor contamination and try to understand if 
there is a danger to the public.  My gut feeling (I am not an epidemiologist 
or health risk assesor, I am an environmental engineer) is that the health 
effects from this disaster will be small.  FWIW.

Sergio
New Jersey