DECEMBER

• Editorial: A New York City Firefighter Overwhelmed by World Trade Center Dust ... a patient, one of thousands of firefighters, rescue workers, ironworkers, and others intensely exposed to dust and smoke shortly after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers in New York. This firefighter was intensely exposed over 13 long days of rescue and recovery work. When he developed fever, pulmonary infiltrates, and hypoxemia, his physicians treated him with standard antimicrobials and corticosteroids, but also investigated his illness by bronchoalveolar lavage, cell surface marker typing, and analysis of retained dust. Their finding of an eosinophilic alveolitis in the absence of infection, and a gratifying response to corticosteroids, met criteria for acute eosinophilic pneumonia, a condition recognized only in the last 15 years and of uncertain etiopathogenesis. The authors point out that five other World Trade Center firefighters were treated under similar circumstances, but without the bronchoalveolar lavage that could distinguish them as having eosinophilic pneumonitis. It is common for firefighters with smoke inhalation to be hospitalized with acute pulmonary infiltrates, to be treated with antibiotics and corticosteroids, and to make a good recovery—raising the question of how many firefighters over the centuries may have suffered from a similar condition. Yet it is difficult to guess whether this firefighter's illness may have resulted solely from a prolonged and intense exposure, or whether some other inherited or acquired susceptibility made him more vulnerable than others similarly exposed. ... The number of uncoated asbestos fibers found in the macrophages from our acutely and heavily exposed firefighter is consistent with recent exposure, because no coated asbestos bodies were identified. ... Mineralogic analysis demonstrated asbestos fibers with high aspect ratios recovered by BAL from the lower respiratory tract. ... (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Vol 166. pp. 785-786, (2002), by William S. Beckett, M.D.)
• Acute Eosinophilic Pneumonia in a New York City Firefighter Exposed to World Trade Center Dust ... a sentinel case of acute eosinophilic pneumonia in a firefighter exposed to high concentrations of World Trade Center dust during the rescue effort from September 11 to 24. The firefighter presented with a PaO2 of 53 mm Hg and responded to oxygen and corticosteroids. Computed tomography scan showed patchy ground glass density, thickened bronchial walls, and bilateral pleural effusions. Bronchoalveolar lavage recovered 70% eosinophils, with only 1% eosinophils in peripheral blood. Eosinophils were not degranulated and increased levels of interleukin-5 were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage and serum. Mineralogic analysis counted 305 commercial asbestos fibers/106 macrophages including those with high aspect ratios, and significant quantities of fly ash and degraded fibrous glass. Acute eosinophilic pneumonia is a rare consequence of acute high dust exposure. World Trade Center dust consists of large particle–size silicates, but fly ash and asbestos fibers may be found in bronchoalveolar lavage cells. ... (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Vol 166. pp. 797-800, (2002))
• EDITORIAL: Health and safety: Mind and matter: OEM and the World Trade Center ... From the health and safety perspective we see four target populations (building occupants, rescue workers, demolition workers, and neighbouring residents) and three phases: immediate evacuation (hours), rescue and recovery (about 10 days), and demolition and removal (months), followed by a potential for persistent effects. ... There were huge job losses, and residents of nearby buildings were first denied access, and then allowed to return to devastated and contaminated buildings, although re-entry precautions3 did not reach people uniformly. From our vantage point of two months after the collapse, it seems that it will be more chronic and subtle OEM issues, rather than traumatic and devastating injuries, which will challenge OEH professionals. ... Following war, toxic exposure, or stress, individuals may develop one of three types of health effect: epidemics of physical illness (for example, asbestosis, sarcomas following dioxin exposures); epidemics of psychiatric illness, specifically post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; for example, war, Oklahoma City Bombing); or epidemics of symptoms not adequately explained by standard diagnosis. We know that some combination of these unexplained symptomatic health effects occurred in about 15% of US and UK soldiers deployed to the Gulf, and that to date, in spite of limited toxic associations with these symptoms, psychosocial factors remain the only treatable or well documented correlates of the problem.7 Such a syndrome is also well described for residents near waste sites, in which smelling odours synergised with concern for the environment to be associated with numbers of symptoms reported.8 (H M Kipen and M Gochfeld; Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2002;59:145-146)
• Risk Communication in the Aftermath of the World Trade Center Disaster .... NYU's elemental analysis of the ambient fine particle concentrations at the NYU Downtown Hospital showed elevated peaks in lead, chlorine and other WTC fire plume constituents when the wind was from the West until mid-October, when the fires diminished. After that time, calcium, silicon, and other crustal dust constituents dominated the WTC impacts, as the cleanup operations proceeded, "kicking up" WTC dust at the same time. (by George D. Thurston, ScD_ and Lung Chi Chen, PhD; Am J Ind Med. 2002 Dec;42(6):543-4)
  
• Toxicological Effects of Fine Particulate Matter Derived from the Destruction of the World Trade Center (National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, December 2002)
• Ground Zero residents protest cleanup deadline (CNN, December 29, 2002)
• EPA report buries a revelation ... Emission of dioxins in and around Ground Zero in the two months following the World Trade Center collapse were "likely the highest ambient concentrations that have ever been reported," according to a report released last week by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. This revelation is buried on page 77 of a 160-page report that the agency released last week. The report is titled "Exposure and Human Health Evaluation of Airborne Pollution from the World Trade Center Disaster" and was authored by the EPA Office of Research and Development in Washington. (NYDaily News, December 31, 2002)
• White House budget office thwarts EPA warning on asbestos-laced insulation ... Paul Peronard, right, who lead EPA's emergency cleanup of Libby, Mont., shows the asbestos-tainted vermiculite to the EPA team charged with cleaning up apartments near the World Trade Center site...WASHINGTON ... The Environmental Protection Agency was on the verge of warning millions of Americans that their attics and walls might contain asbestos-contaminated insulation. But, at the last minute, the White House intervened, and the warning has never been issued. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, by Andrew Schneider, updated 12/31/02)
  
• Too Big to Swallow ... New York City Councilman Alan Gerson, (D-1) on the recent EPA report that the air in lower Manhattan isn't as bad as many think (WNYC, The Brian Lehrer Show, December 30, 2002)
• Ground Zero residents protest cleanup deadline .... NEW YORK -- Lower Manhattan residents protested outside the offices of the Environmental Protection Agency Friday, demanding more time to register for a program to have their homes cleaned of toxins from the World Trade Center collapse. (CNN, December 29, 2002)
• WTC-area plea: Extend cleanup aid ... Environmental activists and people who live downtown urged federal officials yesterday to extend once again the deadline to register for housecleaning to clear any residual Ground Zero dust. (NY Daily News, Maggie Haberman, December 28, 2002)
• EPA Renews Health Claims About WTC Debris ... The Environmental Protection Agency has renewed its claim that only those exposed to World Trade Center debris immediately after the attacks are likely to suffer long-term health problems. (NY1, 28-DEC-02)
• Free Health Screenings Still Open To WTC Recovery Workers ... The end of the year does not signal the end of a health program for rescue and recovery workers at the World Trade Center site. The World Trade Center Screening Program is still offering free health screenings to those who worked at the site. (NY1, Dec. 26, 2002)
• Study downplays WTC dust danger ... NEW YORK -- A study of dust collected around the World Trade Center site immediately after the September 11 attacks found that the particles were less dangerous than previously feared, a co-author of the study told CNN. The study found that most of the cancer-causing particles found in dust on surfaces were big enough to be expelled from the lungs in coughing, co-author Dr. Paul Lioy said in a phone interview. However, long-term exposure to the dust and exposure to large fiberglass particles found at the site could pose health hazards, Lioy said. (CNN, December 24, 2002)
• Dust From WTC Collapse Not As Toxic As Feared, Study Says ... A recent study has reportedly concluded that dust inhaled after the World Trade Center collapse was not toxic enough to cause serious long-term health risks. (NY1, Dec. 24, 2002)
• World Trade Center dust analysis offers good news for New Yorkers ... The rubble has been cleared from the World Trade Center site, but questions still loom about the long-term health effects on people who survived the terrorist attacks. A new study of dust samples taken from around Manhattan in the days following Sept. 11, 2001, could offer some much-needed good news. .. The scientists were looking specifically for persistent organic pollutants — highly stable compounds that pose a special problem because they endure in the environment and can be toxic to humans and wildlife. They found no evidence of high levels of two particular POPs: pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls, which were used in hundreds of industrial and commercial applications until their production was banned in 1977. The team did, however, estimate that the dust covering lower Manhattan contained between 100-1000 tons of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — a group of compounds containing some that are classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as probable human carcinogens. But, while the amount of PAHs was high, the dust particles to which the chemicals stuck were large enough to stay out of a person's lungs, according to Paul Lioy, Ph.D., associate director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute in Piscataway, N.J., and an author of the paper. (American Chemical Society, 2002-12-23)
  
• WTC Med Care Going to Dogs ... World Trade Center rescue dogs are getting better, more expensive and longer-term medical monitoring than World Trade Center rescue people. (Daily News, December 22, 2003)
• Voluntary Data Call-In; World Trade Center Disaster Exposure and Human Health Information ... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) is requesting the voluntary submission of data and other information or reports on human health effects or exposures that may have been generated by academia, hospitals, public or private institutions, businesses and corporations, or any other public or private sector entity, following the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. (Federal Register: December 27, 2002, Volume 67, Number 249; Environmental Protection Agency, December 20, 2002)
• EPA Says Lower Manhattan Safe From 9/11 Chemicals; Some Disagree ... More than a year after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Environmental Protection Agency, is still battling critics over its cleanup efforts Downtown. (NY1, Rebecca Spitz, December 17, 2002)
• World trade center illnesses linger: More than half of all rescue workers remain sick ... More than half of the 2,500 World Trade Center rescue workers who have been screened for health problems under a federally funded program remain sick with a variety of illnesses. (MSNBC/AP, Dec. 16, 2002)
• Health Problems Persist in Many WTC Rescuers .... More than half of the 2,500 rescue workers at the World Trade Center site who have been screened for health problems under a federally funded program remain sick with a variety of illnesses. Since last spring, doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital have been seeking out ground zero workers and volunteers whose health suffered because of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. More than half of the people screened so far have been diagnosed with persistent upper respiratory inflammation. Post-traumautic stress disorder has been found in more than 50 percent of the people tested, and about 20 percent have acid reflux, or heartburn, researchers said. "These rates of abnormality are striking a year and three months after the event," Stephen Levin, head of the hospital's center for occupational and environmental medicine, told the Daily News in Sunday editions. "People are coming to us with shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, asthma. This is an urgent public health matter." (1010 Wins, Dec 15, 2002)
• WTC study: Workers still gasping for air: Half of screened rescuers suffer ailments ... There are nights since Sept. 11, 2001, says Peg Nolan, that her husband wakes up from a deep sleep, jumps off the side of the bed and gasps for breath. In the 23 years they have been married, she has never heard him snore so loudly. And then there are the unexplained fits of sneezing, the sinus congestion and a cough that never seems to go away... Mount said he often blames himself for his ills, saying he and his co-workers should have been more assertive about getting protective gear. "The FBI and government big shots were well taken care of. They got those environmental hazard suits, masks, gloves, the works. We were too stupid to ask for it. Our bosses told us we were lucky to have a job." (Daily News, by Heidi Evans, December 15, 2002)
• 9/11 rescue worker lawsuits frozen ... Almost 2,000 firefighters, cops and other workers who said they suffered respiratory ailments at Ground Zero will hold off suing the city for a year. Under an agreement that could potentially save tens of millions of dollars, lawsuits over inadequate respiratory equipment will be frozen to allow the plaintiffs, who include Emergency Medical Service, sanitation and construction workers, to apply to the federal Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund. The $7 billion fund was created to compensate anyone injured as a result of the 2002 terror attacks as well as the survivors of those who were killed. Lawyer Michael Barasch, whose firm represents about 1,000 firefighters and other rescue workers, called the deal a win-win situation. (NY Daily News, by Healen Peterson, December 14, 2002)
• A Conversation About Health Concerns After 9/11 ... On Thursday, December 12, Gotham Gazette held a live chat about health concerns after September 11. Our guests were Dr. Jack Caravanos, Director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Program at Hunter College School of Health Science, and Dr. Lung Chi Chen, Associate Professor of Environmental Medicine at New York University School of Medicine. Find out what they said about "World Trade Center cough," the potential environmental impact of rebuilding at Ground Zero, and concerns about air quality for students attending school downtown... Dr. Caravanos: While not a respiratory specialist, I believe such an exposure, may produce or activate RADs (reactive airway disorder). GG: What is reactive airway disorder, briefly? Dr. Chen: The airways become more twitchy in response to a low concentration of irritants, such as pollens, dusts, etc. GG: What can or should be done about it? Dr. Chen: Anyone who suspects they have more "twitchy" airways should consult their doctors. Dr. Caravanos: My strong recommendation is to go directly to a pulmonary specialist with experience in identifying pneumoconiosis (dust disease). Dr. Chen: An inhaled broncho dilator usually works very well in reducing the symptoms.(Gotham Gazette, December 12, 2002)
• Perspective on the Tragedy at the World Trade Center ... The extraordinary circumstances of the collapse demanded an extraordinary response from our government. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Public Employees Safety and Health (PESH),the New York Department of Health (NYDOH), New York City Environmental Protection Agency (NYCEPA) all attempted to use regulatory frameworks of rules and regulations that are inadequate to protect the health and safety of workers and community residents in good times. In the context of the collapse of the Twin Towers it was apparent that they were ill-prepared to adequately protect the health of workers and community members.... (American Journal of Industrial Medicine 42:557-559, By Joel Shufro, December 2002)
  
• Progress Is Slow but Steady as Thousands Await EPA Cleanup ... More than three months into the Environmental Protection Agency's indoor cleaning and testing program, some residents were relieved to have their apartments cleaned and declared asbestos-free by the EPA, and others were disappointed in the program. But the most common refrain among those interviewed was that they were frustrated because they had heard nothing from the EPA since registering months ago. (Tribeca Trib, December 2002)
• Deutsche moves to Wall, uncertain about Liberty ... Deutsche announced it was moving its headquarters to Wall St., although the firm has not said what it will do with its still-boarded up building on Liberty St. ... The governor and mayor came to Wall St. last Thursday to praise Deutsche Bank's decision to move its U.S. headquarters down from Midtown, although the bank has still not decided what it will do with its badly-damaged, moldy building across from the World Trade Center site. (Downtown Express, By: Josh Rogers, December 11, 2002)
• Deutsche can do more to show good citizenship; Deutsche can do more to show good citizenship ... But if Deutsche wants to be seen that way, it must do more with regards to its Liberty St. building. It is a depressing, unsightly building with perhaps dangerous mold, and a decision should be made quickly as to whether it will be repaired or demolished. There are still unresolved insurance questions, but in the meantime, the firm can do more to reassure the public. Executives have not been forthcoming about the building and have not attended several Community Board 1 meetings to discuss the issue. The mold grows with every day. If the building were to be repaired, then clearly the mold would need to be cleaned. If demolition is decided, many assume that some sort of a pre-cleanup would be needed before it could begin. Deutsche should either explain why that assumption is false or begin immediately doing the cleanup that will be required. (Downtown Express, By: Josh Rogers, December 11, 2002)
• Fallout from Sept. 11: Forum will look into tragedy's health effects on commuters ... More than a year has passed since the terrorist attacks destroyed both towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. In that time, questions have been raised on the effects of smoke and dust from Ground Zero on commuters from the Hudson County area who travel to New York City for work .... Two surprises occurred when health officials tested the smoke both in Brooklyn and Jersey City a few days after the 9/11 disaster, according to Gallo. "There was a large amount of lead in the smoke," Gallo stated. "The lead was used to prevent corrosion in the metal beams of the Towers. In the fire, the lead paint was evaporated from the beams and mixed with the debris." The second surprise was the small amount of asbestos found in the air on the Jersey side of the Hudson River after the disaster. "There was nothing across the river above the background level of asbestos," Gallo said. "It appears asbestos was used only on the first 24 floors of the first tower. After that, asbestos was banned as a fire deterrent." (The Jersey City Reporter, Donald M. Kelly, December 08, 2002)
• Study of World Trade Center Search and Rescue Dogs Underway ... VA, and rescue efforts following the Sept. 11 attacks at the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The research will focus on the effects ... (PNN, 04 Dec 2002)
• CT, other diesel users switch to cleaner fuel ... "We're working with folks like the Port of Seattle to look at how to put similar requirements into local contracts, such as road and construction projects, similar to the limits set in New York City for the new WTC project," he said. (Snohomish County Business Journal, John Wolcott, December 2002)
• A leaner Nadler outlines Downtown views ... Jerry Nadler was speaking at the Chelsea Greenwich Village Chamber of Commerce's networking luncheon at the Village Restaurant. In typical style, the former high school debate champ was making an impressive argument - in this case that the World Trade Center cleanup was horribly botched by the Environmental Protection Agency. (Downtown Express, by Lincoln Anderson December, December 04, 2002)

NOVEMBER

• Critics knock E.P.A.'s Downtown cleanup plan ... U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, with Ilona Kloupte in her apartment at a press conference last week, criticizing Environmental Protection Agency cleanup procedures. Three months into the Environmental Protection Agency's cleanup of Lower Manhattan apartments, many area residents remain frustrated with the program and the agency's response to their concerns. More than 6,000 Lower Manhattan households have registered for the voluntary asbestos testing and cleanup since the program began in August, said E.P.A. spokesperson Mary Mears. To date, just over 10 percent of the registered apartments, 627, have been tested, cleaned and received results. (Downtown Express, by Elizabeth O'Brien, November 27, 2002)
• Researchers tell of health studies tied to WTC disaster ... What--if anything--will be the long-term health consequences of living or working near the World Trade Center catastrophe? Much of what we finally learn will come from federally funded collaborative research at eight universities in four states. Last month the lead researchers of those studies came to the Tribeca Performing Arts Center to talk about what they are doing and what they have found so far. The results, though preliminary, look promising. In a study of more than 180 cleanup workers, researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that acute respiratory symptoms such as coughs, phlegm and wheezing were more prevalent than before they began working at the site. But in most workers, said Dr. Alison Geyh, the lead researcher, there was no sign of lung obstruction. (Tribeca Trib, By Carl Glassman, November 2002)
• FEMA Confirms Error with IFG Post Office Box; Provides Guidelines for Applicants with Returned Mail ... New York, NY -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed that an agency administrative error resulted in an inadvertent three-day closure of the post office box in Albany, NY used for applicants' documents for the Individual and Family Grant (IFG) program. FEMA quickly rectified the situation, and new applicants should continue to mail their documents to the address provided in the correspondence received from IFG. (Press Release, November 27, 2002)
• Heart and Soul Remain in City ... With this profile, Newsday launches a look at the people who are active in lower Manhattan rebuilding efforts and organizations. This week we feature Sudhir Jain... He also is concerned about the fate of surrounding buildings, such as the Deutsche Bank building, that remain unoccupied. (Newsday, by Carl MacGowan, November 27, 2002)
• Doctor says study will benefit asthma patients ... A doctor with the New York City Fire Department says studies of the so-called "World Trade Center cough" will help doctors treat all asthma ... (WTNH, CT, Nov. 22, 2002)
• Nadler: Apt. Cleanup 'Charade' ... Attacking an apartment cleanup plan in lower Manhattan as a "charade", Congressman Jerrold Nadler said Wednesday the federal government is avoiding stringent testing and cleanup measures and using inadequate methods to rid homes of World Trade Center dust. To prove his point, Nadler spoke inside the still dust-filled two-bedroom condominium apartment of Ilona Kloupte. (NY Newsday, By Margaret Ramirez, November 20, 2002)
• EPA cleanup leaves woman in the dust ... From the windows of Ilona Kloupte's condominium apartment in Battery Park City, you can see the spot a few blocks away where the twin towers once stood. (NY Daily News, by Juan Gonzalez, November 20, 2002)
• GAO Confirms EPA Stripped Ombudsman Authority: Report Concludes New "Ombudsman" is a Paper Tiger (Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Press Release, November 14, 2002)
  
• GAO questions EPA decision to reassign ombudsman ... An Environmental Protection Agency watchdog lacks the autonomy needed to do his job and the department should consider restoring his independence, according to a congressional report released Wednesday. EPA administrator Christie Whitman put the EPA ombudsman's office under the supervision of the department's inspector general in a shakeup in April. The ombudsman at the time, Robert Martin, resigned his position, saying Whitman was being retaliated against for challenging EPA decisions and his office was being stripped of its authority. The report by the General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress, reiterates those concerns. The GAO noted that the EPA ombudsman does not have control over his own budget and lacks the authority to decide what complaints warrant investigation. Unlike ombudsmen in other federal agencies, the EPA ombudsman reports to the inspector general, rather than directly to the highest levels of the agency, and does not have the independence consistent with professional standards for ombudsmen, the report said. The GAO recommended that the EPA reconsider its placement of the ombudsman in the inspector general's office. (NEPA News, November 13, 2002)
• Bad Air Days From 9/11 Hit Brooklyn Hard: Still Up in the Air ... Maybe New Yorkers could not have handled any more bad news right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. The highest priority, we were told, was to get life back to normal. Still, it would have been better if Christie Whitman, the former New Jersey governor who heads the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, had said something like this: "Residents of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn who have respiratory problems should be especially cautious, because the cloud drifting over them contains particulates that can aggravate their condition and lead to hospitalization. People with cardio-vascular disease face a heightened risk of heart attack. Children - even those without a respiratory problem - need to be protected as well, because particulate pollution can cause them difficulty in breathing." Instead, the news was always reassuring. (Newsday, by Paul Moses, November 14, 2002)
  
• Ground Zero Air More Hazardous Than EPA Admits, Study Says ... When a team of university-based air pollution scientists reported in February they had found dangerous airborne contaminants drifting over a then-massive World Trade Center rubble pile, the news made some folks at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency uneasy...Kevin Perry, an assistant professor at the University of Utah, is an expert on air pollution and weather patterns. His evaluation of the dust over the collapsed World Trade Center found levels of particulates higher than what was reported by the EPA. (The Salt Lake Tribune, by Troy Goodman, November 10, 2002)
• Ground zero crews face health woes ... Study finds signs of lasting effects ... Some emergency crews and others responding to the World Trade Center disaster and cleanup effort may experience symptoms such as coughs, stomach and breathing problems for years to come. That's according to physicians from five New York medical schools and hospitals who are studying firefighters, police, paramedics, ironworkers and others exposed to dust plumes as well as toxic vapors from burning material in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. "We expect that when we look back at all this in two or three years, between 300 and 500 firefighters will be put on disability," said Dr. David Prezant, deputy chief medical officer for the New York City Fire Department, who was buried in the rubble for up to 15 minutes. (Union-Tribune, By Cheryl Clark, November 7, 2002)
  
• Executive Summary: World Trade Center Peer Review Meeting of the U.S. EPA's document 'World Trade Center Indoor Air Assessment: Selecting Contaminations of Potential Concern and Setting Health-Based Benchmarks.' (November 6, 2002)
  
• Car contaminated with asbestos sparks state-wide investigation ... Questions are being raised about how two dozen potentially toxic cars got into Connecticut. The vehicles were recovered from around the World Trade Center following the 9/11 attacks and were resold to dealerships. (New Haven-WTNH, Nov. 1, 2002)
• Toxicological effects of fine particulate matter derived from the destruction of the World Trade Center, April 2002 draft. National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development. [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2002b]

OCTOBER

• Special Investigative Audit #14: Environmental Data Trend Report, World Trade Center Disaster; Final Update - Trends for Data Collected 9/11/01 to 4/24/02 from Lower Manhattan. Prepared by IT Corporation for Office of Emergency and Remedial Response. - (Draft Version - October 2001) [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2002a.]
• "GAO's October 2002 Report: Environmental Protection: Issues Raised by the Reorganization of the EPA's Ombudsman's Function" (United States General Accounting Office, Report to the Honorable Diana DeGette, House of Representatives)
• Exposure and Human Health Evaluation of Airborne Pollution from the World Trade Center Disaster DRAFT (National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, October, 2002)
• EPA's 9/11 cleanup needs a fresh look ... More than a year later, the debate continues over the long-term dangers of toxic chemicals released after the World Trade Center attacks. (Daily News, Juan Gonzalez, October 29, 2002)
• Dust-Covered Merchandise From 9/11 Moving To Historical Society ... It's a September 11 tribute that has sat untouched for more than a year. But now, a collection of dust-covered merchandise at Chelsea Jeans - clothing which was coated with debris after the collapse of the twin towers - is being moved. For the past two days, a team of environmental workers has been carefully transporting the memorial to a new home. (NY1, October 29, 2002)
• Unique and Lethal Pollution From 911 ... A year after the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, scientists and physicians in New York City are still trying to figure out what tens of thousands of people inhaled that day. Christie Whitman, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, says there is nothing to worry about, but New York politicians Jerrold Nadler, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer don't agree. (29-Oct-2002)
• Toll of Ground Zero grows: Toxic air, mental trauma continue to affect workers ... Even on Sept. 11, 2001, doctors knew. They knew that on top of the immediate and devastating toll the terrorist attacks exacted that day, they would be seeing victims of another sort in the coming months and years. They feared for the workers at the site. Some, they predicted, would have little time bombs ticking away after completing their gruesome work. They might have physical problems from breathing the noxious air. They might have emotional problems from the stress and grief and fear. Now, more than a year later, those little time bombs are going off for some of the estimated 35,000 workers at the site. (Times Herald-Record, by Beth Quinn, October 28, 2002)
• NYCOSH and union coalition press EPA for expanded Manhattan cleanup ... When EPA reversed itself and announced that it would take responsibility for cleaning up Lower Manhattan residences that had been contaminated with fall-out from the World Trade Center, many unions and safety and health activists were critical of the plan's failure to cover workplaces and its lack of protections for the workers who would perform the cleanup. (NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health, October 28, 2002)
• EPA Lower Manhattan cleanup is sharply criticized ... This week the EPA made public its first progress report on its long-delayed program to test and clean residences in Lower Manhattan that may be contaminated with toxic fallout from the collapsed World Trade Center. The announcement was met with sharp criticism from environmental and occupational health activists, residents, and the member of Congress who represents Lower Manhattan. (NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health, October 28, 2002)
• Doctors give status report on W.T.C. health studies ... Befuddling. That is how New York City firefighter Tom Ryan described his physical health since Sept. 11. Ryan worked at ground zero on that day and continued to work there for months. Like many of the about 100 attendees of the World Trade Center Environmental Impact Research Community Update held at the Borough of Manhattan Community on Thursday night, Ryan suffers from unrelenting respiratory problems. The fire department veteran with more than 20 years of service said he has World Trade Center cough, can no longer run and failed the fire department's Pulmonary Function Test. (Downtown Express, by Karen Russo, October 23, 2002)
• Just 3 apartments yield WTC asbestos ... Federal environmental officials have found very little asbestos in apartments near Ground Zero but acknowledge they still do not know how much contamination remains from the collapse of the World Trade Center. (NYDailyNews, By Greg Gittrich, October 23, 2002)
  
• USGS Environmental Studies of the World Trade Center Area, New York City, after September 11, 2001: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 0050-02 .... Implications for Dust Cleanup As stated in the initial USGS report to emergency response workers on Sept. 27, 2001, the materials identified -- by this study in the WTC dust and debris (chrysotile asbestos, glass fibers, alkaline concrete particles, potentially soluble metals) indicate that cleanup of dusts and the WTC debris should be done with appropriate respiratory protection and dust control measures.(Ocotober 2002, last page modified Dec. 14, 2005)
  
• EPA DOWNTOWN DATA DOESN'T TELL THE WHOLE STORY ... New York, Dismissing newly released indoor environmental test results downtown by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "incomplete, unsubstantiated, and illusionary," Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today called on the EPA to begin to deal straight with the residents of New York. His remarks came in light of an EPA press conference to release new environmental indoor testing, which seems to show that, where the EPA has performed cleaning, the indoor environmental quality downtown is 'safe' from any hazardous contamination left over from the collapse of the World Trade Center. "These results are incomplete, unsubstantiated, and illusionary," said Rep. Nadler. "The EPA has demonstrated in the past that they would like nothing better than to declare the area safe, so they can pack up their bags and leave the trade center case behind them. And they continue to prove that today. What better way to do that than by releasing misleading test results that seem to say, 'Everything seems fine.'" (Press Release Nadler, October 22, 2002)
  
• EPA Releases Preliminary Data On Air Tests Of Downtown Apartments ... The Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday released data from its first batch of air tests from apartments in Lower Manhattan, showing elevated levels of asbestos in three of 257 apartments tested near the World Trade Center site. (NY1, Rebecca Spitz , October 22, 2002)
• EPA Posts WTC-Area Test Results ... (NEW YORK)-The E-P-A says it has begun putting data on the Web from its cleaning and testing of apartments near the World Trade Center site. (1010 WINS, Oct 22, 2002)
  
• WTC Residential Testing Results ... The work of cleaning and testing residences in lower Manhattan (south of Canal Street) is underway. Depending upon the assistance requested, EPA is arranging for licensed contractors to clean and/or test residential units (fact sheet) for asbestos in air. There is no charge for this service. Requests for assistance will be accepted until December 28, 2002 via the Web or by calling EPA's toll-free World Trade Center hotline (1-877-796-5471). Test results for individual residences are provided only to residents of the affected unit. Aggregate test results are provided here. The locations of residences that have cleared or not cleared EPA's testing criteria will be identified by block. (EPA, October 22, 2002)
  
• Under the Plume: September 11 produced a new kind of pollution, and no one knows what to do about it. .. From his healthy head of hair to his running shoes, Andy Reeve, a young computer programmer, was covered in white soot and ash. He had just arrived for work across the street from World Trade Center that horrible September morning, when a commercial jet slammed into the tower at his back. "I was on Wall Street when the explosion happened. You couldn't see anything. It was completely dark. It was hard breathing. In 20 minutes I made it outside and it was like snowing ... snowing the World Trade Center..." (The American Prospect vol. 13 no. 19, By Laurie Garret, October 21, 2002)
  
• Toll taken on WTC site's volunteer heroes ... New York City firefighters who received a permanent disability that forced them to retire after working at Ground Zero would be eligible for three-quarters of their salary and full health insurance. (The Journal News, by Susan Elan, October 21, 2002)
  
• NYU-NIEHS WTC Forum Speaker Presentations (October 17, 2002)
  
• New medical aid for 9/11 workers ... Hundreds of workers and volunteers injured at Ground Zero will receive ongoing treatment through Health for Heroes, a new program at Mount Sinai Medical Center. The treatment is being funded by a $1 million grant from the Bear Sterns Charitable Foundation. (NY Daily News, October 17, 2002)
  
• Red Cross Offers Financial Assistance to Lower Manhattan Residents Accessing EPA Cleanup: Hotel Accommodations and Furniture Replacement Available for Those in Need ... New York, NY, The American Red Cross September 11 Recovery Program (SRP) has announced the implementation of a program that will provide financial assistance to eligible lower Manhattan residents with financial need whose homes are being cleaned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in connection with the damage caused by the September 11, 2001 attacks. Eligible persons participating in EPA's Lower Manhattan Indoor Air Cleaning Program can receive financial assistance for certain essential home furnishings that may harbor persistent contamination after the home is cleaned. The Red Cross program covers disposed porous materials such as beds, couches, chairs, linens, drapery and carpeting. The maximum assistance available is $3000, with an additional allowance of $500 for carpeting, if necessary. The Red Cross will also provide eligible clients with hotel accommodation for a maximum of three nights while their apartments are being cleaned. If residents make their own hotel arrangements, the Red Cross will reimburse them up to a maximum of $250 per room per night, based on double occupancy. (Red Cross News Release, October 16, 2002)
• Free Medical Care For WTC Rescuers ... Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan will provide free medical care and mental health treatment to thousands of recovery workers and volunteers injured at the World Trade Center site, hospital officials said Wednesday.(NY Newsday, By Margaret Ramirez, October 16, 2002)
• Bear Stearns Donates $1 Million To Mt. Sinai To Deal With WTC-Related Illnesses ... The Bear Stearns Charitable Foundation has donated $1 million to the Mount Sinai Medical Center in an effort to help the hospital deal with health issues related to September 11, 2001. The money will go towards medical and mental health treatment for those diagnosed with World Trade Center-related health problems. (NY1, Rebecca Spitz, October 16, 2002)
• Final Report on Air and Dust Sampling in Lower Manhattan (ATSDR, October 4, 2002)
• ATSDR and New York City release final report on residential air and dust sampling in lower Manhattan following WTC collapse (NYCDOH, October 4, 2002)
• Final Technical Report of the Public Health Investigation to Assess Potential Exposures to Airborne and Settled Surface Dust in Residential Areas of Lower Manhattan (New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; As a part of the World Trade Center Environmental Assessment Working Group, September 2002)
• EPA and City Extend Deadline to Register for Downtown Cleanup and Testing Program (EPA, October 2, 2002)
• Deadline for Post-9/11 Cleanup Extended Again ... The deadline for signing up for a federal program that will pay for downtown Manhattan homes to be cleaned and checked for asbestos following the Sept. 11 attack was extended Tuesday to Dec. 28. The deadline, which was already extended once, had been Wednesday.(1010Wins, October 2, 2002)
  
• Part 2: Assessing The Scope Of WTC Ailments: Experts study how lung ills may worsen ... A year after the World Trade Center's collapse, doctors have just begun to get a grasp of the scope - and persistence - of respiratory disorders left in the disaster's wake. Many have even begun to wonder whether more serious illnesses, such as heart disease and cancer, await. In addition to asthma, a new condition called World Trade Center cough and another relatively new medical disorder known as reactive airways dysfunction syndrome - RADS - are the ailments most commonly treated in firefighters, police officers and others who responded to or lived near the site. RADS is a type of occupational asthma, a wheezing condition that occurs usually after exposure to high concentrations of environmental irritants. It can evolve into full-blown episodes of asthma ... (NY Newsday, By Delthia Ricks, October 1, 2002)

SEPTEMBER

• Air of Infirmity City struggles to contend with widespread WTC cough ... (First of two stories) ... Physicians in the city have made it clear: The malady now officially called World Trade Center cough is like nothing they've ever seen, and hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of people are experiencing it. The extent of this lung disease is not known, and for a combination of bureaucratic reasons, the extent of the human health impact may be understated. Moreover, cleanup efforts may be inappropriately focused on a single element of the debris: asbestos. The ailment, as described recently by Dr. Kerry Kelly, the New York Fire Department's chief medical officer, is characterized by a reduced lung capacity and a hyper-reactivity of the airways to inhaled particles, bacteria and viruses. The cough is dry and nonproductive and can leave the sufferer gasping for air... Rather, the culprit appears to be microscopic bits of glass. (NY Newsday, By Laurie Garrett, September 30, 2002)
  
• FEMA Extends Air Filter Program ... The FEMA program that reimburses for air filters, purifiers, vacuums and air conditioners purchased by those affected by the World Trade Center attack was scheduled to end today but has been extended to the end of January. While the city's 3.2 million households are eligible to seek reimbursements for $1,600 in such expenses, just 1,744 air conditioners, 2,821 air purifiers, 1,680 vacuum cleaners and 2,128 air filters have been purchased through the program, the largest portion in Manhattan, officials said. Facing a backlog of more than 35,000 pending applications, the Federal Emergency Management Agency program was extended at the recommendation of the state, which covers one-quarter of the cost, officials said. (NY Newsday, By Graham Rayman September 30, 2002)
• Congressman: OSHA's 9/11 Response Endangered Workers ... In the face of mounting evidence of long-term illness among those who did rescue and recovery work at the former World Trade Center (WTC), the congressman representing Lower Manhattan has criticized the response of OSHA and EPA to last year's terrorist attacks. (OccupationalHazards.com, September 30)
• NY1 For You: Episcopal Charities Helps Downtown Intern With Medical Bills... Although there's a lot of concern about the effect air quality has had on those in downtown Manhattan since September 11, 2001, there's no way to tell whether it's caused certain health problems, and that has left one woman in a bind. (NY1, September 27, 2002)
• Class Action Lawsuit Filed For WTC Workers ... A class-action suit will be filed Friday on behalf of World Trade Center cleanup workers against the city and contractors at the site. (NY1, September 27, 2002)
• State Announces Air Quality Controls For Lower Manhattan: Initiatives To Reduce Emissions From Construction Equipment During Rebuilding ... New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin M. Crotty today announced the State has initiated a plan to reduce emissions from construction equipment during the reconstruction of lower Manhattan, helping to maintain high air quality standards and protect public health. (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation News Release, September 27, 2002)
• Gov. Pataki Takes Steps To Improve Air Quality Near World Trade Site - Environmental Defense Praises Plan As National Model For Clean Construction & Public Health Protection ... Environmental Defense today praised New York Governor Pataki and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the announcement of their plan to reduce harmful emissions from construction vehicles being used in the reconstruction of lower Manhattan's World Trade Center site. "With these steps, New York will be launching a national model for clean construction that will cut emissions before they have a chance to harm health," said Andy ... (Environmental Defense Press Release, 27 September 2002 -- New York)
  
• Tracking the health of firefighters ... WASHINGTON -- Estimating that 700 firefighters may be permanently disabled, Fire Department medical chief Dr. Kerry Kelly yesterday urged approval of federal funding for long-term health tracking of firefighters suffering from Sept. 11-related illnesses. "What we are looking to do is monitor these people beyond retirement on the premise that they have been in a war," said Dr. Kelly, testifying before the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. (Staten Island Advance, by Terence J. Kivlan, September 25, 2002)
• Little Health Risk to Residents from 911, says panel (Downtown Express, by Sascha Brodsky, September 25, 2002)
• Few Lower Manhattan Residents Seek 9/11 Assistance ... NEW YORK, Just 25 percent of New York City residents who are entitled to have their homes checked for asbestos following the Sept. 11 attacks have signed up for the service, a published report said.(1010 WINS, Sep 25, 2002)
  
• THE NEXT NEW YORK: EPA Says Toxins Near WTC Low, But Emissions Persist: EPA ... The amounts of toxins in cleaned apartments and offices near the World Trade Center site are low and well within public health guidelines, according to a study released yesterday by the American Lung Association of New York City. (NY Newsday, By Pete Bowles, September 25, 2002)
• Best Environmental Lawyer: Joel Kuppferman, New York Environmental Law And Justice Project (NY Press, September 25, 2002)
• LUNG ASSOCIATION STUDY SHOWS INDOOR SPACES CAN BE EFFECTIVELY CLEANED OF PARTICLES FROM TRADE CENTER COLLAPSE AND DIESEL EMISSIONS REMAIN A THREAT ... New York, NY, New data released by the American Lung Association of the City of New York shows that if indoor spaces, like apartments and offices, that were affected by the collapse of the World Trade Center are properly cleaned, they can be made safe for living and working. The data also confirmed that the concentration of diesel emissions in lower Manhattan is quite high. (American Lung Association of NY Press Release, September 24, 2002)
• Testimony of Madelyn Wils, Chairperson of Manhattan Community Board #1, before the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works (September 24, 2002)
• Review of EPA and FEMA Responses to the September 11, 2001 Attacks: September 24, 2002. Full committee hearing.
• Lung Association Study Shows Indoor Spaces Can Be Effectively Cleaned of Particles from Trade Center Collapse and Diesel Emissions Remain a Threat (News Release, September 24, 2002)
• E.P.A. Cleanup begins cleanup, slowly by surely (Downtown Express, by Sascha Brodsky, September 18, 2002)
• Contracts for EPA's Downtown Residential Dust Cleanup Program Are Awarded (September 16, 2002)
• Acute eosinophilic pneumonia in a New York City firefighter exposed to World Trade Center dust. ... Mineralogic analysis counted 305 commercial asbestos fibers/10(6) macrophages including those with high aspect ratios, and significant quantities of fly ash and degraded fibrous glass. Acute eosinophilic pneumonia is a rare consequence of acute high dust exposure. World Trade Center dust consists of large particle-size silicates, but fly ash and asbestos fibers may be found in bronchoalveolar lavage cells. (Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2002 Sep 15;166(6):797-800.)
• Respiratory Ills Plague Ground Zero Workers: Many Who Breathed Fumes Face Disability, Grim Recovery Rates (Washington Post, By Christine Haughney, September 16, 2002)
• 'Toxic soup' at Ground Zero? ... The rubble of what was once a center for international commerce has been cleared away. But the collapsed Twin Towers have had a significant impact on the health of those who live near and volunteer at what native New Yorkers call 'the site.' (Distaster News, by Rachel Clark, September 14, 2002)
• Cough and Bronchial Responsiveness in Firefighters at the World Trade Center Site (The New England Journal of Medicine; Volume 347:806-815; September 12, 2002; Number 11)
• World Trade Center Indoor Air Assessment: Selecting Contaminants of Potential Concern and Setting Health-Based Benchmarks. World Trade Center Indoor Air Taskforce Working Group. Under Review. (Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment/TERA, September 12, 2002)
• Cough and Bronchial Responsiveness in Firefighters at the World Trade Center Site (The New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 347:806-815/Number 11, September 12, 2002)
• Researchers Probe Health Consequences Following the World Trade Center Attack (Journal of the American Medical Association/JAMA, by Joan Stephenson, PhD)
• Impact of September 11 Attacks on Workers in the Vicinity of the World Trade Center --- New York City (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, September 11, 2002 / 51(Special Issue); 8-10)
• Use of Respiratory Protection Among Responders at the World Trade Center Site --- New York City, September 2001 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, September 11, 2002 / 51(Special Issue); 6-8)
• Threats and Responses:  The Doctors; Mental Health: The Profession Tests Its Limits (NYTimes, by Erica Goode & Emily Eakin, September 11, 2002)
• The Air Down There ... A year after the attacks, concerns linger over the long-term health effects on residents and rescue workers who breathed in contaminated air (Newsweek, By Julie Scelfo and Suzanne Smalley, September 11, 2002)
• 9/11/01 - 02: An Unprecedented Attack On New York's Environment ... One year after September 11th, experts believe that the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and the ensuing fires triggered one of the worst air pollution episodes in New York City's history. (Gotham Gazette, September 11, 2002)
• One Year Viewed From Space (Space Imaging)
• Fallout: The Hidden Environmental Consequences of 9/11 ... In These Times Environmental and city officials repeatedly withheld clear evidence of toxic contamination around Ground Zero for political reasons. (Posted on 9/11 by Juan Gonzalez,: One Year Later on September 10, 2002.)
• 9/11 Dust Sickens New York Firefighters, Residents ... More than 90 percent of the New York City Fire Department rescue workers who responded to the collapse of the World Trade Center last September 11 have developed a severe cough," Dr. David Prezant of the New York City Fire Department told journalists Monday during a telebriefing organized by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. (ENS, September 10, 2002)
• WTC firefighters sidelined by persistent cough ... our civil defense,'' namely the need to provide the best possible protection for rescue and health-care workers.... (USA TODAY, September 10, 2002)
  
• USA: 9/11 Dust Sickens New York Firefighters, Residents (Environment News Service, September 10, 2002)
  
• Air Quality Issues Linger In Lower Manhattan: Doctors Still See Severe Sinusitis, Asthma From 9/11 Workers ... "We're seeing really severe upper and lower respiratory problems," said Dr. Robin Herbert, from Mount Sinai Medical Center. "We're seeing severe sinusitis, still almost a year later, a lot of new onset asthma, worsening of pre-existing asthma ... (NBC, September 10, 2002)
  
• Health Woes Follow 9/11 Cleanup Crew .... DAYTON, Ohio - Hardly anyone was sneezing or coughing. To doctors Tim Manuel and Randy Marriott, medical directors of the Ohio Task Force One unit at the World Trade Center rubble last September, that silence was ominous. "It told me the dust all around us was probably very fine particles that were going deep into the lungs," said Marriott, a Miami Valley Hospital emergency physician who also teaches with Manuel at Wright State University's School of Medicine. Sneezing and coughing are reflexes to expel foreign irritants before they travel past the nose or throat. But like a flour sifter, they don't catch the tiniest material, and the deeper the irritants go into the airways, '`the more difficulty they can cause,'' (NursingHands, 9/10/2002)
• Report: Many Sapped by 'WTC Cough': Hundreds on medical leave, restricted to light duty ... One year after their unprecedented rescue attempt at the World Trade Center, about 600 New York City firefighters and paramedics remain sidelined with disabilities sustained on Sept. 11, and more than half have developed a condition doctors have dubbed, "World Trade Center cough," it was reported yesterday. (Newday, By Laurie Garrett and Delthia Ricks, September 10, 2002)
• 'WTC Cough' May Lead To Hundreds More FDNY Retirements ... An illness related to the terror attacks may force hundreds of New York's bravest off the job. Doctors say many firefighters were exposed to too much dust and debris on 9/11 and in the days following. Now they're showing signs of an illness that's being called the 'World Trade Center Cough,' and it's a problem that may lead to early retirement. Joe Torres reports. And with the loss of 343 firefighters in the September 11th attacks, the FDNY is already depleted. Now comes word that several hundred more of New York's bravest may be forced to retire because of something called the 'World Trade Center Cough.' (New York-WABC, September 10, 2002)
• Dusting off Manhattan: A year after 9/11, worries about toxic dust plague residents ... A year since the twin towers collapsed, spewing a million tons of dust and ash over the city and triggering long-smoldering fires, New Yorkers say they're finally breathing cleaner air. Even so, as schools reopen and the city continues testing and cleaning thousands of apartments for lingering dust, residents are voicing unsettling health concerns about the fallout from the city's worst environmental disaster. (MSNBC, By Francesca Lyman, September 9, 2002)
• Medical Problems From 9/11 Linger: Hundreds Of Firefighters, Paramedics Remain On Leave ... Nearly a year after rushing to the World Trade Center, about 600 firefighters and paramedics remain on leave or limited duty because of respiratory problems or stress, department officials reported Monday. Out of the 300-plus firefighters who developed a severe and persistent condition dubbed ``World Trade Center cough,'' about half are still on medical leave or light duty, or are awaiting evaluations for disability retirement. In all, some 500 firefighters might eventually retire on disability because of respiratory problems, said Dr. David Prezant, the department's deputy chief medical officer. That is about 4 percent of the city's 11,500 firefighters. (AP/WCBS880, Sep 9, 2002)
• Residents, workers fear pollution, dust from Twin Towers ... A year after the collapse of the World Trade Center -- an ecological disaster that released thousands of tons of toxic substances in massive clouds of dust over lower Manhattan -- he resulting contamination and its effect on area residents, workers and rescuers remains an unresolved issue. (The Journal News, by Roger Witherspoon, September 7, 2002)
• Self-Reported Increase in Asthma Severity After the September 11 Attacks on the World Trade Center --- Manhattan, New York, 2001 ... Asthma is a chronic condition that affects approximately 14 million persons in the United States and is characterized by airway inflammation, reversible airway obstruction, and airway hyperresponsiveness to a variety of triggers (1). Both environmental and psychological factors can trigger asthma exacerbations (2--4), and a seasonal increase in asthma morbidity occurs in the fall (5). This report summarizes the results of a telephone survey conducted among Manhattan residents 5--9 weeks following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) in lower Manhattan in New York City. The findings indicate that among the 13% of adult respondents with asthma, 27% reported experiencing more severe asthma symptoms after September 11. Although a normal seasonal increase in asthma severity was expected, increased severity was reported more commonly among asthmatics reporting psychological distress associated with the attacks and/or difficulty breathing because of smoke and debris during the attacks. Persons with asthma and their clinicians should be aware of the role environmental and psychological factors might play in worsening asthma after disasters. ...(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, September 6, 2002 / Vol. 51 / No. 35)
• Attack exposed weaknesses in buildings, emergency response ... The pulverized remains of the World Trade Center obscured lower Manhattan behind a shroud of smoke and debris for days after Sept. 11, as if to hide the awful toll the terrorists had taken. (The Journal News, by Keith Eddings, September 6, 2002)
  
• Dangerous recycling said to be poisoning India ... NEW DELHI, Indians are shying away from World Trade Center scrap steel shipped to the country to be recycled, afraid its history makes it inauspicious. But it may be more than that -- it may be lethal. The potential dangers of the Trade Center scrap, which environmental groups say is contaminated, highlight a poisonous paradox confronting the world's largest recycler: recycling is not always good. (Environmental News Network, By Terry Friel, September 06, 2002)
• CDC Reports Increase in Asthma Severity After 9/11 ... NEW YORK - In the two months following the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC), some Manhattan residents with asthma--especially those who were particularly traumatized by the event--reported that their asthma worsened. (Reuters Health, September 5, 2002)
• Survey: Asthma rates up in New York after 9/11 ... Psychological stress from last year's terrorist attacks and smoke from the fires that burned for weeks in Lower Manhattan appear to have resulted in an increase in the incidence of asthma in New York, health officials said Thursday. (CNN, 9/05/02)
  
• SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 FROM SPACE ... Various satellites took images around New York and the northeast coast September 11&12, 2001. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, September 05, 2002, date of web publication)
  
• Two Reports Disclose Significant Health Problems Among Lower Manhattan Workers (NYCOSH UPDATE September 5, 2002)
• Almost One Year Later, Lower Manhattan Woman Still Displaced From Home ... When she visits for long periods of time, she still needs to wear a mask. Her husband, who has developed severe asthma, cannot go back at all. "The air quality is very bad..." (NY1, September 4, 2002)
• The EPA Cleanup: What You Need to Know (Tribeca Trib, September 3, 2002)
• Toxic Legacy Lingers in New York: A YEAR AFTER: Residents near the World Trade Center site still finding high levels of asbestos, lead and mercury in homes and offices. (LATimes, September 4, 2002) NEED TO REGISTER (FREE)
• Chinatown asthma survey by local group shows high rate (Downtown Express, September 4, 2002)

AUGUST

• Crisis Management in the Wake of 9.11 ... In early 2001, the NYC Council held a series of hearings to assess the enviornemtnal impact of the 9.11 disaster. On objective was to ascertain "the responsibilites of the different agencies for testing and cleanup procedures, the proto copls begin employed, the coordination of activities and the enforcement of relevant laws and regulations both at Ground Zero and in the surrounding neighborhoods." .... (NYSBA Government, Law and Policy Journal, by Janiece Brown Spitzmueller, Summer 2002)
• EEK! ASBESTOS! ... As if New York's Bravest haven't enough on their minds, the union that represents them is working overtime to make matters worse. The Uniformed Firefighters Association is complaining that upwards of 200 firetrucks may be contaminated with lethal residue from the collapse of the World Trade Center almost one year ago. A study commissioned by the union and an activist "watchdog" group, the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project, found that five rigs contain asbestos levels above federal safety standards. (NY Post, August 27, 2002)
• 9/11 STUDY TO PROBE BIRTH DEFECTS ... Citing an increase in birth defects following major disasters, scientists plan to study whether high levels of stress and exposure to pollutants after the WTC attacks is causing the same thing to happen here. (New York Post, August 31, 2002)
  
• NJ Scientists Seek Link Between Birth Defects and Dust, Stress From 9/11 Attacks ... New Jersey researchers will try to determine whether high levels of stress and exposure to pollutants during the World Trade Center attacks will lead to more birth defects. The study will be done by scientists from the Center for Childhood Neurotoxology and Exposure Assessment at the Environmental Health Sciences Institute in Piscataway. The center is a joint venture between the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Rutgers University. (Trenton-A/WABC7, August 30, 2002)
• Cleaning Firm's Difficult Task ... A New Jersey-based firm, LVI Environmental Services of Clifton, was contracted to do the initial cleaning of FDNY firetrucks coated with WTC dust. (New York Post, August 25, 2002)
• Firetrucks Still Have Toxic Debris ... Firefighters are rushing to emergencies around the city in trucks still carrying remnants of toxic World Trade Center dust and debris nearly a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, The Post has learned. Of the 122 firetrucks involved in rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero, 93 have yet to be totally cleared of asbestos, Fiberglas, lead and other contaminants, FDNY officials have confirmed and lab reports show. (New York Post, By Al Guart, August 25, 2002)
• Study Finds Respiratory Problems Among WTC Cleanup Workers ... A recent study has found widespread respiratory problems among cleanup workers at the World Trade Center site. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University said the workers were almost six times more likely to routinely cough than they were before starting work at the site. Symptoms such as sore throat, coughing and wheezing were common among workers, though tests didn't indicate any extensive impairment. (NY1, August 24, 2002)
• Ground zero clean-up crew developed cough ... Workers who were involved in trucking debris away from Ground Zero at the World Trade Center attack site reported coughing and other respiratory problems that may have been due to exposure to asbestos and other toxic chemicals, scientists reported Friday. Whether this will lead to chronic health problems remains unclear. "The jury is out as to just how serious this is," Patrick Breysse, a professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health ... (United Press International, 8/23/2002)
  
• Health Assessment Finds World Trade Center Clean-up Workers Suffering from Acute Respiratory Problems ... Many workers who cleared debris from the site of the World Trade Center attack of September 11 reported acute respiratory symptoms, according to a health assessment conducted (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Press Release, August 23, 2002)
• World Trade Center workers' respiratory problems (Environment News Service AmeriScan, Aug. 23, 2002)
• Ill Winds of 9/11: Little scrutiny for Brooklyn - where attack's toxic smoke drifted ... They call it World Trade Center Cough - the hacking, wheezing, horrible cough that heaves the chests of many who inhaled Ground Zero air after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Scientists and health officials have studied the cough and scoured some neighborhoods of New York City for victims of inhaled Trade Center debris... But there is a critical flaw, experts say, in all the research, Environmental Protection Agency cleanup programs and federal services related to exposure to World Trade Center debris: The efforts are concentrated on Manhattan, but, except for the area immediately around Ground Zero, the plume did not spread around the borough. It went directly to Brooklyn. (NY Newsday, By Laurie Garrett, August 23, 2002)
• Do lower Manhattan cleanup right ... Next month, the Environmental Protection Agency will finally begin cleaning hundreds of apartments in lower Manhattan. It's a shame that the agency isn't going to do it right. (NY Daily News, by William F. Henning, Jr., August 23, 2002)
• President Bush Vetoes Spending $90 Million for WTC Medical Monitoring ... In a move that took many occupational health activists by surprise, on August 13 President Bush killed a $5.1 billion congressional appropriation that included $90 million earmarked to greatly expand the effort to track and provide medical care to people with lingering health effects resulting from the attack on the World Trade Center. (NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health, August 22, 2002)
• EPA Will Extend Cleanup Deadline ... After much criticism of a federal plan to cleanup apartments in lower Manhattan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will extend the deadline for residents to request testing and cleanup , officials said Friday. The deadline to request testing or cleanup will now be Oct. 2. (Newsday, August 17, 2002)
• EPA Extends Testing Deadline ... After much criticism of a federal plan to cleanup apartments in lower Manhattan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will extend the deadline for residents to request testing and cleanup , officials said Friday. (NY Newsday, By Margaret Ramirez, August 16, 2002)
• Asbestos Testing to Start Immediately; Deadline for Assistance Requests Extended ... New York, New York, EPA announced today that it will start the scheduling of testing for airborne asbestos in residences in lower Manhattan today and that testing will start in one week. At the same time, the Agency announced that the deadline for residents to request assistance has been extended 30 days to October 3, 2002. (EPA press release, August 16, 2002)
• WTC trucks had wrong dust filters ... A private contractor hired to clean up asbestos-tainted dust near Ground Zero in the days after Sept. 11 failed to use required filters on its vacuum trucks, a federal report shows. Feds discovered the lapse three weeks later and ordered the contractor, Earth Technology Inc., to go back and sweep the streets again, according to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency inspector general obtained by the Daily News. (Daily News Washington Bureau, by Kenneth r. Bazinet, August 15, 2002)
• New York Town Hall Meeting on Mental & Environmental Health after 9/11 ... Representatives from various health organizations, physicians, mental health counselors, and representatives of NYC police and firefighters associations will take questions from a studio audience of about 40-50 in New York City. (NY1/C-Span/RealPlayer, 90 min., Thursday, August 15, 2002)
• WTC Residential Dust Cleanup Program: Carpets, Upholstered Furniture and Other Fabric Surfaces Fact Sheet (EPA, August 14, 2002)
• ASBESTOS: Alarmingly High Levels ... Bobby Stanlewicz's exposure to disease-causing chemicals didn't end when he left Ground Zero. The 35-year-old firefighter--who is suffering from respiratory disease-- has learned that he's spent the past year working in a contaminated truck. (MSNBC/Newsday, August 12, 2002)
• C.B. 1 grills EPA over WTC Cleanup ... A presentation last week on the Environmental Protection Agency's ongoing cleanup efforts near ground zero left some obervers unsatisfied. An agency representative fielded questions at a Community Board 1 Quality of Life Committee meeting about plans to clean the apartment of any resident who wants it below Canal St, but many at the meeting were still frustrated. (Downtown Express, by Sascha Brodsky, August 11, 2002)
• Asbestos fear afoot at Stuyvesant ... High levels of potentially dangerous asbestos - many times above the acceptable federal amount - have been found in carpeting inside the Stuyvesant High School auditorium, angry parents charged yesterday. The asbestos results came from independent tests of the carpet, which were carried out by a consultant for the Stuyvesant Parents Association, parent leaders said. (NY Daily News, by Joe Williams, August 8, 2002)
• Asbestos Problem at Stuyvesant High School ... A Manhattan high school near ground zero is being cleared of asbestos residue that tested up to 250 times the acceptable level, with parents voicing their concern Thursday weeks before classes start. (1010 WINS, Aug 8, 2002)
• Cop Can Sue City on Ground Zero Injuries ... A Manhattan judge refused yesterday to let the city block a notice of claim by a police officer injured at Ground Zero - a decision that could affect hundreds of other ailing cops and firefighters. (New York Daily News, by Helen Peterson, August 8, 2002)
• EPA outlines residential cleanup plans for lower Manhattan ... Government agencies have downplayed any health risk from the dust in the area (Associated Press, Staten Island, by Shannon McCaffrey, August 07, 2002)
• U.S. to Test for Contaminants in 250 Downtown Apartments ... The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced plans yesterday to test for dioxins and toxic metals in a sampling of Lower Manhattan apartments whose interiors were coated with ash and dust from the World Trade Center's collapse. The agency said the testing, along with the asbestos cleanup and testing program announced in May, will be the largest cleanup in its history. (New York Times, August 7, 2002)
• Hillary Presses Wht Hse for WTC Health Screen $$$ ... New York emergency and labor leaders joined Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday in calling on President Bush to approve funds to monitor the health of workers at the World Trade Center site. (1010 Wins, Aug 5, 2002)
• Bush May Refuse Health Funds for Ground Zero Workers ... President Bush's refusal yesterday to quickly approve $90 million in funding for monitoring the health of Ground Zero workers could lead to another showdown with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. (New York Post, August 3, 2002)
• Environmental Health Aspects of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks (National Conference of State Legislatures, August 2002)

JULY

• Health Effects and Occupational Exposures Among Office Workers Near the World Trade Center Disaster Site ... The extent of health effects and exposure to environmental contaminants among workers and residents indirectly affected by the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) is unknown.... Constitutional and mental health symptoms were reported more frequently among workers in NYC compared to those in Dallas (JOEM • Volume 44, Number 7, July 2002: Trout, Nimgade, Mueller, Hall, Earnest)
• Characterization of the dust/smoke aerosol that settled east of the World Trade Center (WTC) in lower Manhattan after the collapse of the WTC 11 September 2001... these results support the need to have the interior of residences, buildings, and their respective HVAC systems professionally cleaned to reduce long-term residential risks before rehabitation. (Environ Health Perspect. 2002 Jul;110(7):703-14.)
  
• Disaster Assistance For Air Purifiers, HEPA Vacs Still Available; Registration Deadline Sept. 30 ... New York, NY -- New Yorkers concerned about air quality issues in their homes, as a result of the World Trade Center (WTC) attack, should apply for assistance through the Individual and Family Grant Program (IFGP), administered by the New York State Department of Labor. (Release No.: FEMA-1391-DR-NY-PR-132, Release Date: July 30, 2002)
• Hillary: $$$ Needed for WTC Health Issues ... Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton urged President Bush on Monday to immediately release another $90 million in federal funds to track and treat illnesses of World Trade Center recovery workers. (1010 WINS, July 29, 2002)
• Healing Our World: Weekly Comment: September 11th Environmental Hypocrisy (ENS, By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D., July 27, 2002)
• ATSDR/NYC Health Department to create a registry (NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health, July 25, 2002)
• World Trade Center worker and volunteer medical screening program initiated (NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health, July 25, 2002)
• Registry to Track People Exposed to WTC Collapse ... State and federal agencies are creating a registry of people who may have been exposed to the World Trade Center site, either from working, living, or cleaning up in the area affected by the disaster caused by the terrorist strikes of September 11. (ENS/Environmental News Service, July 18, 2002)
• Investigators Find Whitman Had No Stake in Cleanups ... Independent federal investigators have concluded there is no basis for an ombudsman's claims that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. (Washington Post, July 18, 2002)
• Report: No impropriety by EPA head in trade center cleanup ... Independent federal investigators concluded there is no basis for an ombudsman's claims that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman had a conflict of interest in three large-scale cleanups, including the World Trade Center. (NY Newsday, Associated Press, by John Heilprin, July 17, 2002)
• OSHA: EPA must reinstate Whistleblower (Occupations Hazards, by Sandy Smith, July 17, 2002)
• EPA Must Reinstate Whistleblower ...EPA said it will appeal the finding by the Labor Department that Hugh Kaufman,... (AP/NY Newday, by John Heilprin, July 15, 2002)
  
• ATSDR to Aid New York City in Establishing a Registry to Assess Short- and Long-term Health Effects from the World Trade Center Collapse ... ATSDR an environmental public health agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will assist the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in creating a registry of people who may have been exposed to the World Trade Center site, either from working, living, or cleaning up in the area affected by the disaster ... The registry is expected to launch in late fall 2002. (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, July 8, 2002)
• FEMA to Fund WTC Health Registry ... Federal officials on Monday said they will create a registry to track the health effects of the World Trade Center collapse on those exposed to hazardous materials at the cleanup site. (NY Newsday/AP, July 8, 2002)
• With Cleanups Due This Month, EPA Tests Methods on Liberty St. (The Tribeca Trib, July 2002)
• As 9/11 Cleanup Moves Inside, Residents Battle With Emotions (The New York Times, by Kirk Johnson, July 1, 2002)
• Contents of WTC Dust ... examined samples of material generated after the explosion, fire, and collapse of the World Trade Center. The results can be used to understand the types of exposures to this complex mixture and to evaluate acute or long-term health effects to the affected population. (Environmental Health Perspectives, July 2002, by Lioy et al., pp. 703-714)

JUNE

• Ventilators At High School Near World Trade Center Site Will Be Cleaned ... The Board of Education said it would clean ventilators at a lower Manhattan high school that were found to have elevated levels of lead. (WABC-TV Inc./AP, June 28, 2002)
• Stuyvesant HS Wins Fight for Air Cleanup ... Parents of students at Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan have won the latest skirmish in their battle to force the Board of Education to clean the school's ventilators. Parents had threatened to sue the board if officials did not agree to do a cleanup by the close of business Monday. (New York Daily News, June 28, 2002)
• Senate Group Wants EPA Ombudsman ... A group of senators pressed the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday to reinstate a watchdog who they say was key in cleaning up the World Trade Center and other polluted sites. (AP, June 25, 2002)
• Air Quality a Major Concern Downtown ... Most lower Manhattanites are more fearful about their air quality after the Sept. 11 attacks than about another terror strike, a new poll shows. Most residents also report more health problems since Sept. 11 and many say they're worried about getting cancer or asthma and other respiratory problems because of the attacks and massive fires. (New York Post, June 21, 2002)
• Health Fallout from Trade Center Attack ... One-fourth of New York City firefighters and countless residents near Ground Zero have fallen ill, and the long-term effects are unknown. (Consumer Health Interactive, By Laurie Udesky, June 19, 2002)|
• Pilot Cleaning of Unoccupied Building ... EPA will test and compare the effectiveness of various cleanup techniques in 110 Liberty Street, a still-unoccupied building close to the World Trade Center (WTC) site. Cleaning procedures being tested include those that were recommended following the collapse of the WTC as well as others that may have been used in cleaning residential units. Comprehensive sampling will be conducted before, during and after the pilot cleanup. Pilot Cleaning of Unoccupied Building. (EPA, June 18, 2002)
• Deutsche Bank Allows Access Near WTC ... The city reached an agreement with Deutsche Bank on Friday that gives recovery workers immediate access to a badly damaged building that could contain the last human remains from the World Trade Center attack. (AP/1010, June 15, 2002)
• Parents Fear Contamination at Downtown School ... Tests by the Board of Education have found that ventilators at a high school in lower Manhattan contain elevated levels of lead, some of which may have come from the collapse of the World Trade Center. (AP/1010 Wins, June 15, 2002)
• Technical Briefing Paper: Health Effects from Exposure to Fibrous Glass, Rock Wool or Slag (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, June 14, 2002)
• Board of Ed Hit Over Lead Tests ... The Board of Education sat on environmental test results that showed dangerous lead levels in the heating and air conditioning ventilators at Stuyvesant High School, the school's parent leader charged yesterday. (New York Daily News, June 14, 2002)
• Toxic Fin Sparks Stuy HS Dust-up ... Stuyvesant HS's ventilation system has captured concentrations of lead - believed to be from the World Trade Center collapse - that are 30 times higher than acceptable federal limits, recent Board of Education tests found. (NYPost, by Carl Campanile, June 14, 2002)
• Mold Delays Search at WTC Bank ... A damaged 40-story building near Ground Zero will not be searched for human remains until its owners and the city agree on how to handle a mold infestation and other health hazards, sources said. (New York Daily News, June 10, 2002)
• Remains Found Near WTC ... Worker searching through debris in buildings adjacent to the World Trade Center site this week found the remains of about a dozen people, city officials said Saturday... One large building, 130 Liberty St., owned by Deutsche Bank, has not yet been searched, in part because its owners fear the process could stir up dangerous contaminants. (AP/1010 Wins, June 8, 2002)
• Remaining Exterior Cleanup Work Underway ...The cleanup of residual dust and debris from building rooftops, facades and canopies began June 8, 2002. The work, being done by New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) contractors, follows a visual survey of approximately 400 buildings surrounding the World Trade Center (WTC) site. Of these, some 250 were found to have residual dust and debris needing removal. The owners of 20 percent of these buildings agreed to do the cleaning themselves, leaving about 200 buildings for the city to clean. (EPA, June 8, 2002)
• U.S. Court of Appeals ... EPA lead rule applies to lead-contaminated dust regardless of the source in residential areas. (Decided June 7, 2002)
• Concern Over Mercury Tests show high levels near site ... A series of tests in lower Manhattan by an independent consultant found surprising mercury levels up to seven months after the Sept. 11 collapses. New Jersey-based consultant, Uday Singh, who has testified in court as an expert on trade center dust and has been doing environmental testing for more than a decade, took the readings in apartments and street locations, including City Hall Park, in March and April. (NY Newsday, By Graham Rayman, June 6, 2002)
• Oil Leaks Need Cleanup 2-stage plan already begun ... To the list of areas requiring an ongoing environmental cleanup around Ground Zero, add the site of Seven World Trade Center. The collapse of the 47-story tower there resulted in the release of 130,000 gallons of oil from the Consolidated Edison substation, while an unspecified amount of oil leaked from two damaged storage tanks formerly owned by Salomon Smith Barney, an environmental report says. (NY Newsday, By Graham Rayman, June 6, 2002)
• Report: Oil Cleanup Needed At Site Of 7 World Trade Center ... A cleanup is underway to remove tens of thousands of gallons of oil that spilled from 7 World Trade Center when the 47-story office tower collapsed on Sept. 11, according to a published report. (7Online/AP, June 6, 2002)
• Sept. 11 Aid Seems To Elude the Poor ... On top of that, she has become increasingly desperate and exhausted from taking her 7-year-old daughter to a string of doctors for the girl's constant cough. (NY Daily News, Juan Gonzalez, June 6, 2002)
• EPA Launches Hotline for Residents to Request Apartment Cleanup (Tribeca Trib, by Ron Drenger, June 2002)
• Smoke screen ... Ground Zero has been officially cleared with the removal of the last beam from the collapsed World Trade Centre, but evidence is growing that the US government failed to warn the public about the dangers of pollution in the aftermath.(Guardian, By Sigrún Davídsdóttir, June 5, 2002)
• Residents Protest What They Call "Toxic Air" In Lower Manhattan ... Residents and workers in Lower Manhattan took to the streets Wednesday to call attention to what they consider hazardous air conditions stemming from the destruction of the World Trade Center. (NY1, June 5, 2002)
• NY1 For You Follow-up: Battery Park City ... Homeowner Still Recovering From 9/11... In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City, viewers have turned to NY1 for help with various issues, prompting us to create a special segment called "NY1 For You." (NY1, June 5, 2002)
• Feds to Foot $11.7M Bill For School WTC Cleanup ... the Board of Education won't be stuck with a nearly $12 million bill to clean potentially hazardous World Trade Center dust from downtown schools, officials said yesterday. (Daily News, by Alison Gendar and Greg Gittrich, June 04, 2002)
• EPA Hotline For WTC Cleanup ....City residents living in Manhattan below Canal Street can use a new telephone hot line set up by the Environmental Protection Agency to have their apartments tested and cleaned of dust and debris from the Sept. 11 collapse of the World Trade Center (NY Newsday/AP, June 3, 2002)
• EPA Launches Lower Manhattan Cleaning Hotline (EPA Press Release, June 3, 2002)
• 9/11 Cleanup Zeroes in on Health Risks Facing Immigrant Workers ... Like many who helped clean up at Ground Zero, the man who identified himself as Manuel complained of a persistent cough. He also had difficulty urinating. (Church World Service: Immigration & Refugees, By Thomas Abraham, June 1, 2002)
• Cleanup Turns To Damaged Buildings Near WTC Site ... One of the worst appears to be the Deutsche Bank tower, which suffered heavy damage and is now infested with mold. The building's owner is still negotiating with insurers over what to do with the building. (NY1, June 2, 2002)
• Buildings Around Ground Zero Remain Vacant ... The last steel girder has been trucked out of ground zero but the nine nearby office buildings that remain vacant - some shrouded in netting to protect bystanders from falling glass - attest to the horror of Sept.11 ... The owners of several buildings, including the 40-story Deutsche Bank tower and a landmark skyscraper designed by Cass Gilbert, are still negotiating with insurers. The Deutsche Bank tower, across from the World Trade Center site, is so infested with mold that its future is in question. (1010Wins, June 1, 2002)

MAY

• Occupational Exposures to Air Contaminants at the World Trade Center Disaster Site --- New York, September--October, 2001(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, May 31, 2002/51(21);453-6)
• Feds Say WTC Air Was OK: Find Ground Zero asbestos-free by 9/18 ... the air at Ground Zero was free of hazardous levels of toxic contaminants, such as asbestos, just a week after the twin towers collapsed, U.S. health officials said yesterday. (NY Daily News, by Fernanda Santos and Greg Gittrich, May 31, 2002)
• Air Contaminants at WTC Site Largely Within Limits ... The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday that workers at the World Trade Center (WTC) site in New York City were not exposed to hazardous levels of air contaminants such as asbestos and silica dust in the weeks following the September 11 attacks. (Reuters, May 30, 2002)
• Officials Release WTC Asbestos Study ... piece of data we don't have is what was the exposure to these folks who got caught in the dust cloud," said Ken Wallingford, a researcher with the CDC's National Institute for Occupational... (AP, May 30, 2002)
• Occupational Exposures to Air Contaminants at the World Trade Center Disaster Site --- New York, September--October, 2001 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 5/30/2002)
• Reports of Fungus Spur Discussion ... It's what the military might call collateral damage. Two large buildings near Ground Zero that suffered extensive damage in the wake of the attack on the World Trade Center are reported to be infested with fungi. And that has prompted discussion of what ... (NY Newsday, May 21, 2002)
• REBUILDING DOWNTOWN: For Ground Zero, A Fate Undecided ... Many questions, decisions to be resolved ... But just south of Ground Zero, the lonely, shattered hulk of 130 Liberty St., also called One Bankers Trust Plaza, still caked with dust from Sept. 11 and swathed in black mesh, looms large as a ghostly reminder of the attack. In a midday breeze, steam rises from a hole in the side of the building, where a girder from the collapsing south tower slashed a 24-foot gash. A cable attached to the torn netting bangs against the metal exterior. One almost expects a tumbleweed to roll by... What the attack did not destroy, Mother Nature is threatening to do instead: Ravaged by the wind, rain and contaminated sheetrock the building's wound has grown black mold that has penetrated the ventilation system and could complicate the future of the Bankers Trust building. (New York Newsday, by Graham Rayman, Alan J. Wax, Katia Hetter and Pradnya Joshi and written by Rayman, May 21, 2002)
• U.S. to Bankroll Fire Truck Wash ... Hundreds of Fire Department vehicles exposed to Ground Zero debris will be professionally cleaned at federal expense, officials said yesterday. (Daily News, by Alice McQuillan, May 21, 2002)
• 9/11 Cleanup Is Sought For Lower E. Side ... Hundreds of people living in Chinatown and on the lower East Side packed a town hall meeting yesterday to complain of post-Sept. 11 respiratory ailments and demand faster federal action to test and clean buildings in their area. (Daily News, by Leslie Casimire, May 20, 2002)
  
• The Environmental Impacts of the World Trade Center Attacks: A Preliminary Assessment (NRDC's OnEarth magazine, by Rachel Neumann, Spring 2002)
• Hundreds Of Workers Cleaned Potentially Hazardous Trade Center Dust Without Standard Protections (Newsday, by Michael Weissenstein and Malcolm Ritter, May 18, 2002)
• Hundreds of Workers Cleaned Potentially Hazardous Trade Center Dust Without Standard Protections ... From Latin American day laborers to Southern Baptist volunteers, hundreds of people cleaned potentially hazardous dust from buildings around the World Trade Center site without standard safety gear. The cleanup continued for months after Sept. 11 as public agencies issued confusing and often reassuring assessments of risks posed by the dust, according to public documents and dozens of interviews. Asbestos, glass particles and caustic powder settled unevenly in scores of apartment and office buildings when the twin towers collapsed and sent dust clouds rolling through lower Manhattan, public and private tests show. But while some public officials said it should be assumed the dust contained asbestos and required professional cleaning, others said it could be safely removed with wet rags, mops and vacuum cleaners. (New York-AP/WABC-TV 7, May 18, 2002)
• Clinton Announces WTC Health Plan ... In the first effort to track long-term health effects of the World Trade Center collapse, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday announced a $12 million program that will offer free medical tests for more than 8,000 police officers, rescue workers and volunteers potentially exposed to hazardous substances. (NY Newsday, May 17, 2002, By Margaret Ramirez)
• WTC Workers To Be Tested For Long-Term Health Problems ... Under a new federal program being announced Friday, workers who helped out at the World Trade Center site will undergo more medical tests to check for any long-term health problems. (NY1, May 17, 2002)
• Sen. Clinton announces program to track health problems suffered by ground zero workers ...Questions about health hazards at ground zero have been raised ever since the Sept. 11 terror attacks....... and caustic powder settled in scores of buildings when the twin towers collapsed and sent dust clouds rolling through lower Manhattan.... (AP, May 17, 2002)
• Ground Zero Health Fund Announced ...Questions about health hazards at ground zero have been raised ever since the Sept. 11 terror attacks....... and caustic powder settled in scores of buildings when the twin towers collapsed and sent dust clouds rolling through lower Manhattan.... (AP, May 17, 2002)
• Federal Plan Announced To Ease Health Concerns Of Ground Zero Workers ... Health worries at ground zero as workers express their fear that their role in the recovery effort could lead to medical problems in the future. One of the main concerns is the air they have been breathing at the disaster site for the past eight months. The workers want assurances that medical help will be available if and when they need it. Stacey Sager reports from the Upper East Side with word of a new plan that could help. Watch Stacey Sager's Report ... A new federal program that includes both treatment and research was announced Friday. A whole floor at Mount Sinai Hospital has already been set aside, and ten new doctors are being hired, all for the sole purpose of helping workers from ground zero overcome some troubling symptoms. (New York-WABC, May 17, 2002)
• Health of Ground Zero Workers to be Tracked (1010Wins, May 17, 2002)
• Special Report: Can't Go Home to WTC Nabe ...It is being scrubbed of contaminated dust and should be open in a few months.... (New York Daily News, May 17, 2002)
• NYPD SERGEANTS' ILL' WIND BLOWS ... A group of police sergeants said yesterday that there was a "high likelihood" they'd develop long- and short-term illnesses because they weren't given proper protections in the aftermath of Sept. 11. (NYPost, May 17, 2002)
• Lawyer Joel Kupferman and Hugh Kaufman from the EPA on the cleanup of downtown (WNYC radio, 93.9 FM and 820 AM, Leonard Lopate, May 15, 2002)
• EPA Rapped for NYC Cleaning Program ... The government could spend as much as $100 million to clean downtown Manhattan apartments of dust from the World Trade Center collapse, but critics say the program may be coming too late to help those at greatest risk of health problems. (AP, by Michael Weissenstein, May 15, 2002)
• Fire Truck Danger: Union says WTC dust on rigs a health risk ...Hundreds of fire trucks that responded to the World Trade Center attacks remain contaminated with potentially toxic dust, posing health risks to firefighters, union officials charge. (Daily News, by Greg Gittrich, May 15, 2002)
• Survey Tries To Find Out How WTC Collapse Affected Health Of Kids In Chinatown ... Health effects from the collapse of the Twin Towers are still unknown in many areas. Now, a new study is being conducted to gauge illnesses for one group of people. (NY1, May 14, 2002)
• WTC Cars Will Be Trashed City, EPA to destroy hundreds of contaminated autos ... Hundreds of cars towed from the streets around the World Trade Center and pulled from the collapsed complex's garages will be destroyed because of asbestos contamination, federal officials said yesterday. (Daily News, by Greg Gittrich, 5/14/02)
• Chinatown asthma ... The New York Academy of Medicine is investigating the respiratory health of children in Chinatown in the aftermath of Sept. 11. (Craines New York, by Samantha Marshall, 05/11/2002)
  
• Cleaning Up After 9/11: Respirators, Power and Politics ... Under the extraordinary pressures of the World Trade Center rescue and cleanup operations, was worker health added to the list of victims? The Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) horrified the nation and the world: 2,800 civilians died in the conflagration, and the subsequent collapse of the WTC buildings created what was probably the most dangerous emergency response, rescue and recovery effort in U.S. history. This disaster and the ensuing fires released thousands of tons of matter - much of it hazardous - into the atmosphere. As the horrors of that day recede, many in the safety and health community are taking a closer look at how well workers were protected as they labored near the former WTC. (Occupational Hazards, by James L. Nash, 5/10/2002)
• Cleanup Offered to Residents Near World Trade Center ... Nearly eight months after the September 11 terrorist attacks that toppled the World Trade Center towers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided to launch a comprehensive inspection and cleanup to ensure that apartments near the falle