Dust: The Inside Story of Its Role in the September 11th Aftermath

A celebrated specialist in environmental medicine, Keane (the deputy director of Rutgers Occupational Health Science Institute) had a leading role in analyzing the public health issues in lower Manhattan following 9/11. In the chaotic aftermath of the World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attack, he reports, ""the rush to rescue without adequate personal protection... or knowledge of the potential effects of WTC dust"" actually tripled the number of victims; some 6,000 first responders and rescue workers (especially those working in the first 72 hours) inhaled a blizzard of white dust released by the explosion and ongoing fires, leading to serious injury and illness (though it could easily have been worse, had winds not moved the smoke plume over Brooklyn and out to sea). In this comprehensive report, Lio chronicles the government's environmental and health assessment efforts, including many setbacks and pitfalls, and lessons that need learning; the most important lesson he derives is the need for greater preparedness in order to ""minimize the acute exposure... among workers and the community"" in the vicinity of a disaster without diminishing the immediate effort to rescue those in harm's way. Four appendices include an extensive bibliography, 10 tables on dust composition, and the peer review of the EPA's final report.