Statement by Joel Shufro, Executive Director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health in response to "NYC Department of Health Presents Findings from Indoor Air Sampling in Lower Manhattan," released at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, February 8.

We find it extremely disturbing that the Department of Health has published such an uninformative and confusing report that raises more questions than it answers. The people of New York City have an urgent need for useful and accurate information, not obfuscating and baseless reassurances.

The report literally raises more questions than it answers:

• Were the indoor air and dust samples taken in areas that had already been cleaned up?
  
• Were the indoor air samples taken under aggressive sampling conditions?
  
• What method was used to obtain the samples?
  
• What method was used to analyze the samples?
  
• What, specifically, were the results of the tests?
  
• What is an "elevated level of asbestos"?
  
• Were samples taken in any heavily contaminated buildings?
  
• Why, more than a month after the last samples were taken, are the results of the air samples for fiberglass not available?
  
• How many dust samples were taken, and how many contained asbestos, and how much asbestos did each of them contain?
  
• What does "low levels of asbestos in some samples" mean, specifically? What levels, in how many samples?
  
• Is the Department of Health aware of any safe level of exposure to asbestos? If so, what is it?
  
• Why are residents being advised to clean up dust when "some" of the dust contains low levels of asbestos?
  
• Why does the report contain no information about or advice concerning respiratory protection?

In fact, the Department of Health release makes it clear that some of the tested dust contains asbestos, which confirms the EPA recommendation that workers and residents in lower Manhattan should assume that untested dust contains asbestos.

According to the EPA tests, more than three-quarters of the dust samples contain some asbestos. Thirty-four percent of the EPA samples contain between 1.1 and 4.49 percent asbestos.

Under city law and state law, it is illegal for anyone who does not have an asbestos handler's license to clean up any significant quantity of dust that is more than 1 percent asbestos. The Department of Health is inviting New Yorkers to put themselves at potentially grave risk, when it advises workers and residents how to clean up untested dust themselves.

No one who is not properly trained, equipped and licensed should clean up untested dust that could be contaminated with asbestos. But if an untrained, unlicenced person does clean up untested dust that could contain asbestos, they should wear appropriate (HEPA) respiratory protection to minimize their exposure.

The Department of Health report states that "the likelihood of developing disease from limited, short-term, low level exposure [to asbestos] is low." It is true that the likelihood of developing disease is lower from low-level exposure than it is from high-level exposure, but without any accurate data about exposure levels, it is impossible to characterize the level of risk.

More than 25 years ago the U.S. Congress wrote this finding of fact into the Asbestos School Hazard Detection and Control Act, and nothing has been learned since to contradict it: "Medical science has not established any minimum level of exposure to asbestos fibers which is considered to be safe to individuals exposed to the fibers."

We urge anyone who is considering cleaning up a residence or a workplace, and anyone who is in a residence or a workplace that has not been cleaned up by a licensed asbestos abatement contractor, to follow the instructions and advice in our factsheet, Cleaning Up Indoor Dust and Debris in the World Trade Center Area.

For more information, contact NYCOSH at 212-627-3900. Fax: 212-627-9812. E-mail: wtc@nycosh.org

NYCOSH's 9/11-related work is conducted in partnership with the United Church of Christ's National Disaster Ministries, with additional support from the September 11th Fund created by the United Way of New York City and the New York Community Trust.