WTC: Danger of Asbestos Fallout - Analysis

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WTC: Danger of Asbestos Fallout - Analysis

by Moeller 10:21pm Wed Sep 12 '01 (Modified on 12:47pm Sat Oct 13 '01)

moeller@...

After the WTC has been blown to pieces, questions about short- and long-term

health effects of the explosion must be asked. Health effects of asbestos

can include asbestosis, lung cancer and other diseases, depending on the

concentration. How much asbestos was in the WTC? Which health effects will

it cause, now that it is all over New York City?

The asbestos fiber was a common protection against fire and heat in many

products, especially building components, until its heavily toxic effects

became known. The American Lung Association warns that " if asbestos should

become airborne and is inhaled, it can remain in the lungs for a long period

of time, producing the risk for severe health problems several years later " .

The incubation time can last up to 30 years. Health effects can include

asbestosis, lung cancer and other diseases, depending on the concentration.

How much asbestos was in the WTC? Which health effects will it cause, now

that it is all over New York City?

Current images from New York suggest extremely heavy and wide-spread fallout

from the destroyed buildings. The question of whether asbestos was used in

the building, and how much, therefore seems to be of high significance. The

WTC was built from 1966-1971. The fact that asbestos is carcinogenic

received wide-spread publicity in the seventies, and asbestos was still used

in schools well into the seventies (see American Spectator article below).

So it seemed reasonable to me to assume that asbestos was still used, and

here's what I found through a Google search (I checked the first 6 pages, if

anyone wants to continue):

http://www.barringer.com/html/body_5_93.html

[on 1993 WTC bombing:]

" Wood, who helped with the investigation, says that he was not allowed onto

the blast site because loose debris and asbestos made it hazardous. "

http://www.egilman.com/new_jone_day/gracewtc.htm

" WR Grace Asbestos containing insulation was used at the World Trade Center

(WTC). Cintani stated that Grace Vermiculite did not contain asbestos.

Unfortunately this was not true this material was 2-5 percent asbestos.

100,000 80 pound bags of this vermiculite was used in the WTC. In addition

9,150 pounds of MonoKote 3 was used at the WTC. Monokote 3 was about 20

percent asbestos. Therefore in total about 201,183 pounds of pure asbestos

fiber from Grace was used in the WTC. "

Unfortunately, Grace was not the only supplier:

http://www.lkaz.demon.co.uk/ban23.htm

British Asbestos Newsletter

Issue 23 : Spring 1996

" In December T & N, formerly the largest asbestos company in Britain, reached

a favorable settlement with the Port Authority (PA) of New York and New

Jersey, the body responsible for JFK, La Guardia and Newark airports and the

World Trade Center. The PA had brought a $600m lawsuit against 37

defendants, including T & N, for asbestos contamination of municipal

buildings. "

http://panynj.pubcomm.com/...

Contract WTC-115.310 - The World Trade Center Removal and Disposal of Vinyl

Asbestos Floor Tiles and Other Incidental Asbestos-Containing Building

Materials Via Work Order Estimate Range: $1,000,000 annually Bids due

Tuesday, October 17, 2000 [emphasis mine].

http://www.erisk.com/news/weekly/news_weekly2001-05-11_01.asp

May 5 - 11, 2001

" Chalk up one victory for insurers in the escalating asbestos-claims mOlOe:

the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has lost a 10-year-old court

battle to get its insurers to pay more than $600 million for removing

asbestos from its properties, including the World Trade Center and New

York's airports. The judge ruled that asbestos abatement costs by themselves

do not constitute 'physical loss or damage' under the Port Authority's

all-risk policies. The agency is considering an appeal. " [emphasis mine]

http://www.fumento.com/asbest.html

[interesting overview on asbestos problem]

Copyright 1989 by The American Spectator

" Coming soon to a school or office near you: a life-saving innovation that

could kill you, designed to correct a problem that doesn't exist, by

removing materials that aren't dangerous until somebody tries to remove

them. And guess who's going to pay for it. " ... " For example, the Port

Authority of New York and New Jersey is expecting to pay about $1 billion

for the abatement of just the World Trade Center and LaGuardia Airport. (New

York City law requires abatement if renovation work is being done, as it is

at these buildings.) ... "

Based on this information, it can be said with reasonable certainty that

several tons of asbestos were in the World Trade Center. With the dust of

the WTC now clouding the city, contamination is very likely, but measurings

of the dust should be taken before jumping to any conclusions. After my

search, some news media started to mention the asbestos issue, mostly this

ABCNews article which states that

The Trade Center reportedly decided more than 10 years ago to treat the

health risk by encapsulating the asbestos to prevent the particles from

being inhaled.

To my knowledge, " encapsulating " means that the asbestos fibers are simply

painted over, or that asbestos-covered shafts are sealed, to avoid direct

human contact and air contamination. With both WTC towers destroyed, this

" encapsulation " is of no relevance. What matters is the degree of

asbestos-contamination which is now in New York City. As school is supposed

to begin again tomorrow, this problem should be addressed as soon as

possible. Residents of NYC should stay in their homes, keep their windows

closed and shut down the air conditioning (the filters won't work on the

fiber).

Because of the lawsuits mentioned in the above articles, information on

asbestos use in the WTC will also be hard to find (consider the potential

damages involved as a good motivation for a cover-up). It is also likely

that NY authorities will not publish asbestos air measurings in order to

avoid wide-spread panic and possibly accountability (since Port Authorities

have delayed a clean-up for years). The health problems this fallout will

bring will remain unknown for a long time.

Appendix: Damage Estimations

We can make some very shaky assumptions about the amount of asbestos

exposure New Yorkers will suffer, and the consequences it will have. WB

Grace et al. provided at least about 200,000 pounds of asbestos (~100 tons)

for use in the WTC. Most of it can be assumed to be still in the rubble

pile -- let's say 1% (1 ton or 1E6 grams) is uniformly spread over the area

of New York City of 800 square kilometres (8E8 m^2). (We can definitely say

that this is not the case but that the concentration is much higher in

certain areas.) Let's say it is mixed in the air up to a height of ca. 10 m,

so you get 8E9 m^3 and a concentration of 100 ug/m^3 (1 ug = 1E-6 g, 1 ng =

1E-9 g).

In http://www.fumento.com/asbest.html one finds " 3,5 ng/m^3 = 0,0001 fibers

per cubic centimenter " (=fibers/cc) which results in 1 fiber/cc = 30 ug/m^3.

The above calculation therefore results in about 3 fibers/cc.

The official US Air Force regulations recommend:

A time-weighted-average permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 0.1 fibers/cubic

centimeter (f/cc) for all asbestos work in all industries;

An asbestos excursion limit above which no employee should be exposed

equivalent to an airborne concentration of asbestos in excess of 1.0 fiber

per cubic centimeter of air (1 f/cc) as averaged over a sampling period of

thirty (30) minutes

(Excursion limit = limit for the length of an excursion = ~30 minutes.) Now

we are 30 times above industry level and 3 times above worst case for 30

minutes.

It could be better if (aside from basic assumptions):

fibers are clumped together with other dust particles, so that particle size

is much larger which supports removal of fibers from lungs in a natural way

(coughing them up again etc.).

It could be worse if:

asbestos fibers are incorporated (eaten, drunk) -- they could separate from

the dust and spread freely

dust is much higher concentrated in lower Manhattan (and nearby

Brooklyn/Queens area - was it the direction of the downwind?) than assumed

by the numbers above.

most is on ground, not in the air. But if dust on the ground is whirled up

the concentration around a person or house could be much higher than the 3

fibers/cc assumed above.

dust settles on windows, staircases, clothings and cars. Gets destributed to

the living room as permanent exposure.

what about the amount of asbestos used in the WTC not from WB Grace? The

total amount of asbestos in the WTC could be much higher.

To sum it up I think one should be very careful with the dust, especially

regarding children and people below 30. 30 years is the typical incubation

time.