A Second Assault
Although it is no longer the focus of international attention, the cleanup at the World Trade Center continues. In areas of New York City near the collapsed towers, a layer of dust—in some cases more than six inches thick—covers apartments, offices, and classrooms.
We know that the destruction of the World Trade Center produced dust and debris containing asbestos, fiberglass, dioxin, PCBs, silica, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. What is not yet clear is what levels of these chemicals firefighters, police, rescue workers, volunteers and the public were exposed to and how far the toxic dust has traveled. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration began testing the air and rubble soon after the collapse of the towers, we may never know the true impact of this chemically contaminated dust on rescue workers and the public.
No one is talking to people about the fact that this dust may pose significant public health risks. The impact of this second assault needs to be more fully assessed and steps taken to help protect rescue workers and the public:
· The public needs to have information written in many languages that describes precautionary steps to take when entering areas near the disaster site as well as when cleaning homes of dust and materials. The last thing people should do is to sweep up the dust since this causes potentially contaminated particles to become airborne and breathable. At a minimum, those with asthma will be at increased risk.
· A registry should be established of the courageous men and women who assisted in the search and rescue mission, as well of those who live or work near the site. These people would be given medical tests to evaluate their health and to look for early signs of adverse effects. This registry would allow us to track people to see if there are any long-term health effects from exposures to the potentially toxic debris and dust.
· This registry could also provide critical information to evaluate the health of those who were exposed. If the incidence of a particular health problem is greater in people with high levels of exposure, this could provide important information for others with lower exposures. Even people with low exposure should be monitored since early detection of disease is critical to successful treatment
· In the future, the federal government must be prepared, within a few hours, to supply large quantities of protective air breathing equipment to the disaster location. It is important to protect people from the toxic elements in buildings, including asbestos, lead, mercury, and dioxins.
We certainly hope that in the future we won’t need breathing equipment, brochures describing the safest way to clean up after such an event, or a registry of people who are exposed to toxic dust and debris. But the tragic events of September 11 have demonstrated how ill prepared we are for such an environmental assault.