World Trade Center disaster

[Guest guest]

Some tidbits from a Newsweek article a couple of weeks ago:

 

"The 16 acres now known as ground zero are considered the worst

environmental disaster ever inside a major city..."

 

"Asbesto and other microscopic carcinogenic fibers are in the pulverized

concrete dust..." Brief exposure will cause only "minor medical" problems,

"like emphysema and asthma ... among the very young and old." Much greater

is the risk to "the frontline rescue workers, many of whom labored long

hours without heavy protective masks."

 

"Freon from the complex's central air-conditioning system has almost

certainly seeped out of the seven massive compressors located under the

plaza linking the buildings. Besides posing a slight risk to the ozone

layer, burned freon may have converted to another toxin, phosgene, used by

the Nazis as a chemical weapon."

 

"The fires... may also have created toxic residue out of ordinary office

materials: a full acre of carpeting, thousands of desks, radiation-filled

medical equipment and cleaning fluids for polishing 7,000 toilets and

609,840 square feet of windows. Even desktop computers may become toxic if

burned. Perhaps the most potent threat is dioxin, a powerful carcinogen

formed by burning PVC, found in cables and wallcovering, wastebaskets and

conduits."