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.

In addition, some more recent links will be found on the NYCOSH home page.

Where possible, these links are grouped by subject, such as Compensation or Asbestos, with non-specific links categorized as News or Occupational Safety and Health Resources. Within each subject, the newest listings are at the top.

NYCOSH cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information in the external links below.

• Asbestos
  
  
• Breaking news
  
  
• Compensation
  
  
• Government resources
  
  
• News features
  
  
• Occupational safety and health resources
  
  
• Psychological trauma

For links concerning biological weapons (including anthrax) and biosafety, click here.

Occupational and environmental safety and health hazards have an effect on everyone, going far beyond the concerns resulting from the World Trade Center catastrophe or bioterrorism. For more information on the identification, control and elimination of workplace and workplace-related hazards, and to learn more about the struggle to ensure that every workplace is safe and healthful, please explore the our extensive website and its 2000 links to other Internet resources on the subject. To visit our site map, please click here.

Asbestos (Sept. - Nov. 2001)

• Summary Report: Characterization of Particulate Found in Apartments After Destruction of the World Trade Center — At the request of a informal committee of elected officials, two environmental scientists took indoor dust and air samples near the WTC site. They found high levels of asbestos in many of the samples, and recommended that all WTC dust be treated as asbestos-contaminated unless tested and shown to be asbestos-free.
  
  
• Feds, City Ignore Asbestos Cleanup Rules, Says EPA Vet — A veteran scientist at the federal Environmental Protection Agency is charging that her agency and the city Health Department are ignoring federal asbestos-abatement law in buildings around the World Trade Center disaster site. In a scathing memo circulated last week within the agency, Cate Jenkins, a 22-year EPA employee, charged that top brass have "effectively waived" the EPA's "strict national regulations for removal and disposal of asbestos contaminated dust" by recommending that residents and commercial building managers in lower Manhattan follow the "extremely lenient (and arguably illegal) asbestos guidelines of the New York City Department of Health." In her memo, a copy of which was obtained by the Daily News, Jenkins noted that the EPA's testing had identified at least 30 locations, some five to seven blocks from Ground Zero, where asbestos levels in dust samples were above the 1% "action level" cited in the federal Clean Air Act. (Daily News, November 20, 2001)
  
  
• Asbestos Taints Workers' Refuge — Exhausted firefighters and cops — their lungs hurting from the thick air around the collapsed World Trade Center — wandered into the nearby Embassy Suites hotel on Sept. 11 looking for a place to sleep and something to eat. For the next five days, the evacuated hotel served as a refuge for dozens of the city's Bravest and Finest and handfuls of volunteer rescue workers. It may not have been the best place to go. (Daily News, November 20, 2001)
  
  
• Asbestos Higher in Newer Test — Asbestos contamination inside buildings near the World Trade Center site may be far worse than government officials have reported, according to a new study by a top private toxicology firm. (Daily News, October 9)
  
  
• Bulk Dust Monitoring for Asbestos — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data from 89 lower Manhattan locations.
  
  
• Is Ground Zero Safe? New study suggests more asbestos at disaster site than previously revealed — In the weeks since the World Trade Center was attacked, evidence is mounting that large quantities of asbestos were showered down on lower Manhattan. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has 16 stationary air-quality reading stations throughout ground zero and has been studying the debris regularly, has said that 34 dust samples (out of 128 studied) and a handful of air readings have been positive for significant asbestos. But a new study by independent researchers suggests even more asbestos was released than those EPA tests have revealed—and in a potentially more dangerous form. (Newsweek, October 5)
  
  
• OSHA Asbestos Sampling Area Map - Lower Manhattan and World Trade Center (Samples September 13th through 27th, 2001)
  
  
• Asbestos Use in the Construction of the World Trade Center — In light of the devastation and horror of the tragedies which took place in NY and Washington, there will be many questions raised about the construction of the twin towers and the performance of the fireproofing materials used. It is a time to reflect and review; to identify ways in which we can protect our citizens and the infrastructure of our countries. This must be done with open minds and all the technological and scientific innovation we can muster. Do not let us get misdirected by a smokescreen of blame and misunderstanding. (International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, September 19)
  
  
• Asbestos Monitoring — Links to EPA data from 17 lower Manhattan locations
  
  
• Asbestos Safety Information for the World Trade Center (White Lung Association)
  
  
• Asbestos Targeted In Cleanup Effort — Hundreds of asbestos cleanup workers representing more than a dozen local unions and several contractors continued the massive and delicate task of removing the contaminant yesterday from buildings damaged by the collapse of the World Trade Center.  In the meantime, Christine Todd Whitman, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said yesterday that "there is no reason for concern," saying that the latest measurements of debris and air at ground zero and in areas tested in the financial district show the amount of asbestos is at or below background levels, which she defined as 1 percent or less of the total sample.(Newsday, September 16)
  
  
• Asbestos Alert: How much of the chemical does the World Trade Center wreckage contain? — Nearly four days after the World Trade Towers collapse sent massive columns of dust andsmoke over lower Manhattan and into the shifting winds around New York Harbor, there is still no clear picture of how much asbestos or other hazardous materials may have been set free into the environment, officials say. (Newsweek, September 14)
  
  
• Asbestos — An annotated archive of information about asbestos in the NYCOSH website and elsewhere on the Internet.
  
  
• Asbestos links — More than 40 Internet sites with detailed information about asbestos as an occupational health hazard
  
  
• Asbestos in the News — It didn't start with the World Trade Center
  

Breaking news (Sept. - Nov. 2001)

• Major Oil Spills at Ground Zero — More than 130,000 gallons of oil from transformers and high-voltage lines — most of it containing low levels of hazardous PCBs — were lost at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 when two downtown Con Edison substations were destroyed. In addition to the Con Ed release, confirmed by company spokesman Mike Clendenin, the Port Authority is unable to account for 50,000 of 70,000 gallons of diesel and fuel oil stored in belowground tanks at the Trade Center complex to power emergency generators. (Daily News, November 29)
  
  
• Airing Their Health Concerns: Want Agency to Watch Ground Zero Area — Frustrated by conflicting reports on the air quality of lower Manhattan, a group of city and state officials yesterday called for the establishment of a new agency to oversee environmental monitoring around the still-smoldering remains of the World Trade Center. (Newsday, November 27)
  
  
• More Ground Zero Air Studies Urged — State agencies should be doing more to determine whether there are any potential long-term health risks from the air around the World Trade Center site, Assembly leaders said yesterday. (Daily News, November 27)
  
  
• The Unemployed: Ground Zero Cleanup Jobs Prove Slow to Materialize — A city-financed program seeking work for welfare recipients and dislocated workers has recruited at least 150 people for $9-an-hour cleanup jobs at or near the World Trade Center site. Recruiters at the program, Training Solutions Inc., said that they had told the people who signed up that they should be willing to work 12- hour shifts in the rubble and amid toxic fumes. But the jobs those recruiters were hired to fill have not yet materialized, and the exact nature of the work is unclear. (New York Times, November 22)
  
  
• Public Distrusts Gov't Air Tests — Government agencies monitoring the air quality near Ground Zero have lost much of their credibility with the public, Environmental Protection Agency officials and public health experts said yesterday. "I think the government has collected a lot of information, but it's clear that some people aren't believing it when they hear it," Dr. George Thurston, an NYU environmental medicine expert, said during a Pace University panel on the environmental impact of the Trade Center attacks. (Daily News, November 21)
  
  
• Safety Guidelines Set For WTC Site Workers: Dems Seeking Cleanup Czar — Government and union leaders hammered out guidelines on safety for Ground Zero workers yesterday as a group of elected officials urged Mayor Giuliani to name an environmental cleanup czar for downtown. "We want the workers to be safe," said Donna Miles, a spokeswoman for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. While not all the details of the agreement were available yesterday, the pact will require workers to complete a health and safety training program. (Daily News, November 20)
  
  
• An Ill - Wind - in Their Lungs — Firefighter Palmer Doyle was planning for the future yesterday. The "World Trade Center cough" could be heard in firehouses across the city, and Doyle was in a law office a few blocks from Ground Zero talking over a lawsuit on behalf of those with the ailment. "This isn't about money," Doyle said. "It's about our future and the future of our families." Doyle got the cough working non-stop for the first several days after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. "We weren't given the proper equipment for about two weeks," said Doyle, who, like many other firefighters, wore a paper mask during the early rescue efforts. "You know what those masks stop?" firefighter Joseph Sardo said in the kitchen of Engine 10, Ladder 10, which the city now wants to close. "Golf balls." (Newsday, November 15)
  
  
• Cleanup Worries: Residents, doctors see WTC health risks — The air quality and round-the-clock cleanup near the World Trade Center has left many residents near there sick and traumatized, according to testimony at a City Council hearing yesterday. According to residents of the area, as well as doctors and other experts, the environmental risks near Ground Zero are far greater than what the city or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say. (Newsday, November 9)
  
  
• Downtown Air's Risky, M.D. Warns — Despite official assurances that the air in lower Manhattan is safe to breathe, an occupational health expert testified yesterday that it is causing serious respiratory ailments. "We did not anticipate that we would see this problem to such an extent among those working or living peripheral to Ground Zero," said Dr. Stephen Levin, medical director of occupational and environmental diseases at Mount Sinai Medical Center. (Daily News, November 9)
  
  
• Environmental Concerns Aired at City Council Hearing — Two months after the World Trade Center attacks, lower Manhattan residents feel that their physical and mental health have been damaged by the disaster and the cleanup efforts, a City Council committee was told Thursday. (Associated Press, November 8)
  
  
• Landfill Safety Concerns: PESH probes complaint of danger to workers sifting rubble — The state Department of Labor yesterday opened an investigation into health and safety issues at the Fresh Kills Landfill, where hundreds of police officers are searching for human remains in the World Trade Center debris, Newsday has learned. The department, which operates the Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau, began the investigation after receiving a complaint that "proper health and safety precautions are not being taken," said spokeswoman Betsy McCormack. She declined to elaborate, citing confidentiality rules. (Newsday, November 8)
  
  
• Volunteer Travels to New York to Preach Safety — The last thing on the mind of many workers digging through the rubble of the world's worst terrorist disaster is their own health and safety. That's where Margaret Cunningham comes in. Cunningham, an industrial hygienist with the Washington Department of Labor and Industries in Vancouver, returned Sunday after spending a week at the site of the World Trade Center in New York. Cunningham and six other state employees were in Manhattan to give a break to employees of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (Vancouver, WA Columbian, November 8)
  
  
• Safety Becomes Prime Concern at Ground Zero — Ground zero at the World Trade Center is a landscape like no other. It is jagged and angular on the surface, with shards of steel piled upon steel. It is caustic beneath from the smoke of subterranean fires. And it is emotional always and everywhere, from the reminders of the lives that were lost. Those same things also make it a work site like no other in America, and in that it is a dangerous workplace, first and foremost. (New York Times, November 8)
  
  
• HEALTH: Now, ‘WTC Syndrome' — New York-area physicians have begun seeing a series of illnesses among emergency workers and others who were trapped in the dense plumes of dust and debris on Sept. 11 after the Twin Towers collapsed. Dubbed World Trade Center Syndrome, the ailments range from unrelenting coughs and sinus infections to posttraumatic stress and acute lung traumas, including severe asthma requiring mechanical respiration. (Newsweek, November 5)
  
  
• NY Firefighters Report Illness — More than 4,000 firefighters who have been clearing the devastated site of the World Trade Center bombings are suffering persistent coughs and chest pain, according to reports in the U.S. (BBC News, October 31)
  
  
• WTC's Toxic Exposure a Worry — Seven weeks after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center about 400,000 tons of rubble and steel have been removed, but the site still smolders and there is some concern about the dioxins, PCBs, benzene, sulfur dioxide and lead emitted at the 16-acre site. "We're highly critical and highly concerned, there's a lack of safety protective equipment and while some major concerns have been addressed there is a long way to go," David Newman, an industrial hygienist with the New York Committee for Occupational and Safety Health, told United Press International. "These heroes should not be subject to disease or accidents." (United Press International, October 28)
  
  
• Feds: Rescue Workers Not Protected — A federal agency has slammed the city for not taking steps to protect rescue workers from injuries immediately after the World Trade Center catastrophe. In a sharply worded report, consultants for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences said nearly 1,000 injuries — ranging from blisters and nausea to severe burns and fractures — could have been prevented if the city had made sure workers had basic safety training and equipment such as hardhats and respirators. "They were taking risks which under the circumstances were understandable, and those people need to be considered heroes," Joel Shufro, executive director of the New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, said yesterday of the firefighters, paramedics, cops and ironworkers. "But this is no longer a rescue operation," he said. "What needs to happen now is that workers need to be protected so they don't suffer illness or injury. What we don't want to see is a second national tragedy." (Daily News, October 26)
  
  
• A Toxic Nightmare At Disaster Site: Air, Water, Soil Contaminated — Toxic chemicals and metals are being released into the environment around lower Manhattan by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and by the fires still burning at Ground Zero, according to internal government reports obtained by the Daily News. Dioxins, PCBs, benzene, lead and chromium are among the toxic substances detected in the air and soil around the WTC site by Environmental Protection Agency equipment — sometimes at levels far exceeding federal levels, the documents show. (Daily News, October 26)
  
  
• Questions About Safety of Workers — Hundreds of injuries to workers combing through the rubble at the World Trade Center might have been prevented had the city been faster to require proper training and equipment at what is still an "extremely hazardous" work site, according to a sharply worded federal report. (Newsday, October 25)
  
  
• Local OSHA Veterans Find Hope Amid the Horror at World Trade Center — Death is no stranger to Michael Laughlin and Vance Delsignore, compliance officers for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But even these veterans of workplace tragedies were shocked and saddened by the enormity of the devastation they experienced at the field of debris in Manhattan where the World Trade Center once stood .... The OSHA agents were instructed to advise the contractors responsible for the demolition work of safety problems and possible remedies rather than act as enforcers of safety laws. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette October 18)
  
  
• Cleanup Hazards At Ground Zero An Ongoing Worry: Union Provides Hazmat Training on Site — A month after the twin towers vanished from the Manhattan skyline in blinding clouds of dust, what's left at ground zero still smokes. Thick plumes rise from the twisted heaps of ruined steel. The smell remains difficult to describe but impossible to forget: Faintly sweet, it tickles the nose and irritates the throat. Workers at the site compare it to a giant foundry with untold tons of metal burning under the torch. This smoke is of deep concern to federal, state and city health officials worried about workers cleaning up the site. (Washington Post, October 16)
  
  
• After Attacks, Studies of Dust and Its Effects — Despite a steady stream of data from public agencies showing that the stubborn, eye-stinging plumes of dust from the wrecked World Trade Center pose few risks, thousands of people — residents and workers in nearby neighborhoods, firefighters, demolition crews, those who fled the attacks — say they still fear for their health. It's no wonder, given the images of volcano-size clouds and ghostly coatings of white dust that are etched in the collective memory of the attacks. And an alphabet soup of federal, state and city agencies have issued confusing information on Web sites or in press releases — particularly about asbestos, which was used in building one of the towers and whose fibers can cause cancer. (New York Times, October 16)
  
  
• Something In the Air — New Yorkers may now live in dread of bio-terrorism, but potentially harmful substances already hang in the air over their city - the smoke and dust created by the World Trade Center collapse. "It was like trying to breathe in the contents of a vacuum cleaner bag," says one of the New York detectives caught in the huge dust cloud thrown up on 11 September as he shows journalists around Ground Zero. (BBC News Online, October 15)
  
  
• Pol's Leery of WTC Air Quality — State Sen. David Paterson questioned official assurances about the air quality in the vicinity of the World Trade Center ruins, and called for additional environmental studies to be done on September 10. The Harlem Democrat said local officials' insistence that the air around Ground Zero is safe to breathe may be influenced by "well-meaning attempts on the part of many Americans to return life to the way it usually is." But he cautioned against hasty judgments. "We cannot engage in that kind of conduct at the possible expense of the individuals who live and work there," Paterson said at a news conference in Bryant Park. "There has never been a public health crisis like this in the city." (Daily News, October 11)
  
  
• Some still fear environmental hazards near World Trade Center site — Four weeks after the collapse of the World Trade Center, New Yorkers are wearing dust masks on the streets downtown and hiring industrial cleanup crews to remove asbestos from their offices and apartments. (Associated Press, October 10)
  
  
• WTC cleanup triggers safety, cost allegations — While much of New York may be uniting in the wake of the Sept. 11 air attacks, catastrophe specialists and janitors are engaged in a fierce battle for contracts to clean offices and apartments covered in dust and debris. (Reuters, October 10)
  
  
• E.P.A. Says Air Is Safe, But Public Is Doubtful — The Environmental Protection Agency has tested the air in Lower Manhattan more than 1,000 times and has concluded that it does not show dangerous levels of contamination. Samples from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration indicate no airborne asbestos or other contaminants beyond the disaster site. And Joel A. Miele Sr., the city's commissioner of environmental protection, insists that while the air quality can cause nagging discomfort, "it's not a health concern." (New York Times, October 6)
  
  
• Air Near Ground Zero Is Rated Safe by Feds — The levels of cancer-causing asbestos and other material still lingering in the air in lower Manhattan remain below limits considered a health risk, federal authorities said yesterday. But with hundreds of tons of hazardous material still buried among the rubble of the World Trade Center, experts cautioned workers at Ground Zero to keep wearing respirators. (Daily News, October 3)
  
  
• U.S. finds no significant health hazards at World Trade Center — Federal health officials who conducted hundreds of tests at the World Trade Center attack site say they discovered no significant public health hazards. (Associated Press, October 3)
  
  
• Ground Zero: An Environmental Disaster — If the cleanup of the Twin Towers were a simple logistical problem, it could take up to six months to transfer the 1.2 million tons of rubble to area landfills. But public-health experts say this is no ordinary trip to the dump. The 16 acres now known as ground zero are considered the worst environmental disaster ever inside a major city—"the same scope as a Superfund site," says New York University Hospital environmental-medicine specialist Max Costa. (Newsweek, October 1)
  
  
• Health Hazards in Air Worry Trade Center Workers — Ever since the World Trade Center disaster, federal and city officials have said there is minimal risk from the fetid, dust-filled air and smoke that continue to envelop Ground Zero. But independent tests of dust samples around the site have found dangerous levels of cancer-causing asbestos, fiberglass — and even residues of human bone particles. (Daily News, September 28)
  
  
• New OSHA Heads Pushing for Agency To Take Leadership Role in Advancing Safety — Drawing on the agency's work at the World Trade Center rescue and recovery site in New York City, the head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Sept. 25 told those attending a national safety meeting that the agency "must do more than just assure compliance with standards." (Bureau of National Affairs, September 27)
  
  
• Uneasy breathing: As the dust settles in New York, concerns linger about health risks in the air — Two weeks after the catastrophic attack on the World Trade Center towers, thousands of evacuated New Yorkers are returning to nearby homes and offices, counting their blessings that they escaped the disaster. But fires still smolder downtown and crews continue to sift through the rubble and carry away debris laden with asbestos and other potential health dangers. As the dust clears, too, some residents wonder what else might be in the plume of ash and smoke that exploded over their city. (MSNBC, September 26)
  
  
• OSHA Head Says Rescue Workers' Safety In New York, Pentagon 'Number One Priority' — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is "desperately trying to ensure" that rescue workers are properly protected as they endeavor to deal with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and the Pentagon, according to John Henshaw, the agency head. (Occupational Safety and Health Reporter, September 20)
  
  
• Monitors Say Health Risk From Smoke Is Very Small — The persistent pall of smoke wafting from the remains of the World Trade Center poses a very small, and steadily diminishing, risk to the public, environmental officials and doctors said yesterday. There could be a slight health threat, they said, to city residents with weakened immune systems, heart disease or asthma, and to rescue workers who did not wear protective gear or who smoke. Smoking greatly amplifies the effects of some kinds of pollution, scientists said. But over all, the danger was no greater than that on a smoggy day, some officials said. (New York Times, September 14)
  
  
• Fouled Air? Health Officials Stress Caution, But Say Measured Levels Safe — Despite fires and a pungent odor at the wreckage of the World Trade Center, most tests for contaminants in New York's air have not triggered alarm, health officials say. (ABC News, September 13)
  
  
• Challenges and Dangers in Disposing of Two Fallen Giants — New York's twin World Trade Center towers were considered a triumph of engineering and ambition as they rose in the late 1960's and early 70's. Cleaning up the vast mountain of debris at the 16-acre site, all that remains of the trade center's dream after a terrorist attack on Tuesday morning, presents a challenge no less daunting than the construction itself, engineers and environmental cleanup experts say. There is also deep uncertainty about what sorts of environmental hazards may be contained in the rubble. Asbestos was reportedly not used in the towers as insulating material for the steel beams. The trade center was among the first high-rise buildings to use a spray-on ceramic fire-proofing material instead, according to the National Counsel of Structural Engineers Associations, a trade group that has studied the original plans. But officials of the federal Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday that testing nonetheless showed elevated asbestos levels in the rubble, perhaps from flooring materials or other substances. (New York Times, September 13)
  
  
• An Invisible Enemy: Dust — A hazardous brew of dust, soot, asbestos and toxic combustion gases will pose a continuing threat to rescue workers long after the flames are extinguished, environmental health experts said yesterday. (Newsday, September 13)
  
  
• Trade Center Dust Poses Danger — The huge plume of smoke and grit that spread from the World Trade Center could trigger attacks of asthma, emphysema and other chronic lung disease even a day or two after people were exposed, doctors said September 12. . . . Three preliminary samples already taken by the agency showed "minimal or no" airborne asbestos, Whitman said, but a fourth did detect significant levels of the cancer-causing material. "We're going to take more samples as time goes on," she said.  (Associated Press, September 12)

Compensation (Sept. - Nov. 2001)

• Families of Missing Have Three Options — To sue or not to sue? "Should I file a claim with the U.S. government fund? Waive my right to sue? Should I sue bin Laden? How do I pay the mortgage?" are the questions that victims' families are asking about compensation for losses in the Sept. 11 attacks. The magnitude of the tragedy may explain why few have filed claims with the U.S. fund. There are no simple answers, but understanding the options may clear a path for victims' families to get their lives back, financially and emotionally. (New York Law Journal, November 28)
  
  
• Resources: Unemployment, Workers' Compensation and Related Help — A range of assistance is available for the survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as well as for the families of those killed and for workers facing unemployment because of the economic fallout of the disasters. (AFL-CIO)
  
  
• Plan Would Limit City's WTC Liability — Mayor Giuliani and Gov. Pataki had a good reason to support a GOP version of the airline security bill: It had an eleventh-hour provision that would limit the city's liability in lawsuits resulting from recovery work at the World Trade Center site. "The city wants to be exempt from liability lawsuits from the cleanup, including workers who might contract lung cancer or anthrax while at the World Trade Center site," a congressional source said. (Daily News, November 2)
  
  
• Trial Lawyers Care — Non-profit corporation established by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America to provide free legal services to September 11 attack victims.
  
  
• Day Laborers at Ground Zero Say They Are Not Being Paid — The New York state attorney general's office is investigating complaints that day laborers hired to clear debris from office buildings surrounding the site of the World Trade Center have not been paid, some of them for up to two weeks of work. . . . . The complaints first surfaced when an organizer with the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health went to the hiring line to talk to workers about safety precautions; he heard an earful about how they were not being paid. (New York Times, October 19)
  
  
• Benefits, Assistance and Compensation: Where to Get Help — A detailed summary for victims of the September 11 disaster and their families, prepared by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (originally posted October 9, updated as needed)
  
  
• World Trade Center Tragedy Creates Complex Workers' Compensation Issues — The World Trade Center tragedy will prove the greatest challenge that has yet confronted the US workers' compensation system. The horrible and catastrophic events of September 11, 2001 were never contemplated in the legislative crafting of our nation's social, remedial insurance paradigm. Amid grief, sadness and despair, the injured workers and their dependents are being directed to file claims through this traditional administrative system, which has been enhanced by a complicated series of collateral and emergency entitlement programs. At a difficult time for all Americans, the road to benefits will be a twisted and byzantine labyrinth.  (New Jersey Law Journal, October 8)
  
  
• Victims of the World Trade Center catastrophe are eligible for many kinds of compensation (NYCOSH, September 28)
  
  
• Disaster Unemployment Assistance — If you are out of work as a direct result of the World Trade center Disaster you may qualify for unemployment insurance even if you would not normally be eligible (Office of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer)
  
  
• Work-Related Injuries and Fatalities: What You and Your Family Need to Know About Your Benefits (United States Office of Personnel Management)
  
  
• To Families of Union Members Who Died in the World Trade Center Terrorist Attack (New York State AFL-CIO Workers' Assistance Bulletin)
  
  
• Emergency Assistance - Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (New York State AFL-CIO Workers' Assistance Bulletin)
  
  
• Crime Victims Compensation (New York State AFL-CIO Workers' Assistance Bulletin)
  
  
• Crime Victims Board Funding for Funeral Expenses (New York State AFL-CIO Workers' Assistance Bulletin)
  
  
• Workers' Compensation (New York State AFL-CIO Workers' Assistance Bulletin)
  
  
• Unemployment Insurance (New York State AFL-CIO Workers' Assistance Bulletin)
  
  
• Social Security Survivors' Benefits (New York State AFL-CIO Workers' Assistance Bulletin)
  
  
• Protect Yourself From Creditors (New York State AFL-CIO Workers' Assistance Bulletin)
  
  
• Assistance for Terrorism Victims Available from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Justice Department and Small Business Administration (SBA) (September 18)
  
  
• New York State Workers' Compensation Board World Trade Center Emergency Information & Resources
  
  
• NYCOSH Workers' Compensation Index
  
  
• Workers' Compensation Links —More than 30 Internet sites with detailed information about workers' compensation and injured workers
  
  
• Workers' Compensation in the News — It didn't start with the World Trade Center

Government resources

• Environmental Studies of the World Trade Center Area After the September 11, 2001 Attack — The information in this report describes the results of an interdisciplinary environmental characterization of the World Trade Center (WTC) area following requests from other Federal agencies after the attack on September 11, 2001. The scientific investigation included two main aspects: 1) imaging spectroscopy mapping of materials to cover a large area around the WTC and 2) laboratory analysis of samples collected in the WTC area. (U.S. Geological Survey, November 30)
  
  
• NIEHS Responds to World Trade Center Attacks — The buildings have fallen. The worst of the fires are out. But environmental health hazards still exist in and around the ruins of the World Trade Center following the attacks of 11 September 2001. Workers at Ground Zero toil in a dangerous environment. They and others exposed to dust and fumes in the wake of the building collapse and fires may suffer adverse health effects for years to come. The NIEHS is playing a role in addressing these threats through four of its ongoing programs--the Worker Education and Training Program (WETP), the Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) Centers Program, the Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers Program, and the Superfund Basic Research Program. (Environmental Health Perspectives, November 2001)
  
  
• Suggested Guidance for Supervisors at Disaster Rescue Sites — Including sections on unstable work surfaces, excessive noise, asbestos dust, heat stress, confined spaces, chemical exposures, traumatic stress, electrical, carbon monoxide, eye injuries, flying debris, heavy equipment use and rescuing victims (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)
  
  
• Environmental Monitoring Data Related to the World Trade Center Disaster Response Available to Public: EPA Invites Public to New Information Repository in Lower Manhattan — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established an information repository containing environmental monitoring data gathered in response to the World Trade Center disaster. The information is available at the EPA library located at 290 Broadway in lower Manhattan, which is the location of the agency's regional offices. (EPA Press Release, October 30)
  
  
• Environmental Data Trend Report World Trade Center Disaster DRAFT — Prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (October 29)
  
  
• Particulate Matter Fact Sheet — (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, October 25)
  
  
• Response to the World Trade Center (WTC) Disaster: Initial Worker Education and Training Program Grantee Response and Preliminary Assessment of Training Needs (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, October 23)
  
  
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences World Trade Center Safety & Health Information
  
  
• Disaster Officials Offer Cleanup Tips For Affected WTC Victims — Federal, state, local and voluntary agency officials recommend some cleaning tips for people affected by the World Trade Center attack who are re-occupying commercial buildings and for residents re-entering their homes. (Federal Emergency Management Agency press release, October 9)
  
  
• Federal Funds Enhance Initiatives Targeting Respiratory Impacts of WTC Tragedy — Governor George E. Pataki today announced that New York State has received $8.5 million in federal funds to extend and enhance a variety of initiatives designed to combat asthma. The Federal funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), include a five-year $3.5 million grant, as well as an immediate $5 million grant for initiatives designed to address any potential respiratory impacts of the World Trade Center tragedy. (New York State Governor's Office press release, October 9)
  
  
• Air Monitoring in Lower Manhattan — Links to data from more than 30 lower Manhattan locations (NYC Department of Environmental Protection)
  
  
• New York City Department of Health Responds to the World Trade Center Disaster
  
  
• NYC Health Department Responds to Concerns about Air Quality in Lower Manhattan (October 5)
  
  
• Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
  
  
• Drinking Water Monitoring — Links to EPA data from 13 lower Manhattan locations
  
  
• Particulate Matter 2.5 Monitoring — Links to EPA data from four lower Manhattan locations
  
  
• Frequently Asked Environmental and Public Health Questions about the World Trade Center and Pentagon Tragedies (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, September 18)
  
  
• Recommendations for People Re-Occupying Commercial Buildings and Residents Re-Entering Their Homes (New York City Department of Health, September 17)
  
  
• OSHA Pitching In To Assist With Worker Safety Measures, Asbestos Tests (September 14)

News features (Sept. - Nov. 2001)

• Working Families Mourn, Honor and Rebuild (AFL-CIO Website)
  
  
• News About Workers: Union Members Mourn Losses, Pray for Survivors — Scores of union members worked in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which were attacked Sept. 11 by terrorist airline hijackers. Hundreds are feared dead and the fates of many others are unknown. Thousands more are impacted by massive layoffs and job loss. (AFL-CIO Website)
  
  
• With Water and Sweat, Fighting the Most Stubborn Fire — Jose Maldonado has all the basic tools: a ladder truck to lift him up and out toward the fire; a pumper to ensure nearly 800 gallons a minute is poured onto it; and his respirator, boots and other protective gear to guard against the roiling waves of heat and toxic smoke. (New York Times, November 19)
  
  
• Health Consequences of the 11 September 2001 Attacks — Whenever workers pick up a steel beam or overturn a piece of rubble, the threat exists that a puff of asbestos can be thrown into the air and then inhaled. The long-term health risks of those exposures include lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma. Risks will be greatest for those with the most intense and prolonged exposures. Protection against these risks requires the provision of proper respirators to workers and the undertaking of health and safety training programs that emphasize the need for constant wearing of respirators, for proper fit testing, and for frequent changing and cleaning of filters. Workers at the site are also at risk of exposure to silica, lead, benzene, dioxin, and other combustion products. — Dr. Philip Landrigan (Environmental Health Perspectives, November 2001)
  
  
• It's Time to Reward Our Heroes — The September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon killed over 6,000 people. Union pilots and flight attendants were the first to die, murdered by the hijackers who commandeered the planes. Among the thousands killed at the WTC were members of over twenty different unions, many of whom were the first on the scene following the massive explosions. Hundreds of union Firefighters, Police officers and Port Authority officers died valiantly in rescue attempts. Union healthcare workers, doctors, nurses and EMTs attended to the injured. Members of the Marine Engineers and the Seafarers on board the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort joined rescue efforts. After the collapse of the WTC's Twin Towers and other buildings, 1,000 Iron Workers from throughout the east coast converged on Manhattan to help in the rescue and cleanup. Hundreds of New York City Building and Construction Trades Council members also pitched in. At one point, reported the New York Times, so many volunteers showed up that authorities would only let in those with union cards. Meanwhile, unions throughout the United States have set up relief funds to aid the survivors. The next time someone tells you that unions are no longer necessary tell them to say that to the citizens of New York City and to the workers at Ground Zero. Working people have suffered greatly in this tragedy but their sacrifice isn't over. The airline industry has laid off over 100,000 workers, mostly union members. It is now estimated that the September 11 attacks have cost New York City 108,500 jobs. The deaths may not be over either. The New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health has warned, "Contaminants in the air, including toxic dust and chemicals, can cause serious illness or death. Dust and ash anywhere in the vicinity of the World Trade Center site are likely to contain asbestos, cement, drywall and polyvinyl chloride combustion products."
  
  
• Downwind From Disaster — The brave workers on the WTC pile have expressed concern about the dangers of breathing dust and smoke. Workers are not currently provided enough information to make an informed decision about the health risks of the dust and smoke. (New York Environmental Law and Justice Project)
  
  
• Response to the World Trade Center Tragedy — Dust created from the collapse of the World Trade Center and surrounding buildings has found its way into homes and businesses throughout the region.Scientists have NOT proven whether this dust is or is not dangerous, but believe that caution should be used when cleaning your home/business to safely remove the dust. (Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute Rutgers University/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey)
  
  
• A Second Assault — Although it is no longer the focus of international attention, the cleanup at the World Trade Center continues. In areas of New York City near the collapsed towers, a layer of dust—in some cases more than six inches thick—covers apartments, offices, and classrooms. We know that the destruction of the World Trade Center produced dust and debris containing asbestos, fiberglass, dioxin, PCBs, silica, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. What is not yet clear is what levels of these chemicals firefighters, police, rescue workers, volunteers and the public were exposed to and how far the toxic dust has traveled. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration began testing the air and rubble soon after the collapse of the towers, we may never know the true impact of this chemically contaminated dust on rescue workers and the public. (Center for Health, Environment and Justice)
  
  
• The Toxic Aftermath: Facts and Protection for Rescue Workers and Residents (September 11 Air Safety Hazards)
  
  
• Three Things We Learned: On Workers, The Public Sector, and American Exceptionalism — There is no silver lining to the cloud of horror that descended on America last week. And the avalanche of pain, terror, and death we have witnessed may be just the beginning. (Tom Paine.Common Sense, September 22)

Occupational safety and health resources
(Sept. - Nov. 2001)

• NYCOSH calls for stronger protections for workers who clean up hazardous World Trade Center dust in November 8 testimony to City Council Committee on Environmental Protection.
  
  
• NYC Volunteer Industrial Hygiene Resource Listing — Many industrial hygienists and similarly qualified individuals have volunteered to assist individuals and organizations with health and safety issues that have arisen in the aftermath of the World Trade Center catastrophe. The American Industrial Hygiene Association has published a list nearly 300 individuals and organizations who have volunteered their services.  "If you live or work in an affected building in New York City, the list has been compiled for your use. All of the people listed have volunteered to help, you may contact them directly for more information. AIHA [and NYCOSH] make no guarantee about the assistance or information provided by these generous volunteers."
  
  
• World Trade Center Disaster Worker and Environmental Health Information (Center for the Biology of Natural Systems)
  
  
• Occupational Safety and Health Issues Related to Attacks of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center and Pentagon (American Public Health Association, October 24)
  
  
• World Trade Center Catastrophe Work-site and Residence Re-occupancy: Back to Work or Home In the World Trade Center Area (NYCOSH, October 2)
  
  
• Health Concerns of People Who Live and Work Near the World Trade Center Disaster Site (Mount Sinai - I.J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine)
  
  
• Protecting Rescue & Clean Up Workers From Health Hazards   (Mount Sinai - I.J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine)
  
  
• World Trade Center Catastrophe Worker Health Fact Sheet: Recovery and Clean-up Operations (NYCOSH, September 21)

Psychological trauma (Sept. - Nov. 2001)

• Coping with the Trauma — The horror of the World Trade Center attack continues to haunt Emergency Medical Technician Bruce Funaro, who was at ground zero Sept. 11 when the Twin Towers collapsed. "Every day when I drive to work and look out at where the World Trade Center stood, an empty feeling comes to my stomach," he said. Mr. Funaro's ambulance post at Vesey and Church streets was the closest one to the Twin Towers. On Sept. 11, he saw hundreds of bloodied people with wounds, burns and terrorized faces running from disaster. Heís still unable to purge the image of a person with a severed arm from his mind.  (Public Employee Press, November 19)
  
  
• Managing Traumatic Stress: Tips for Recovering From Disasters and Other Traumatic Events — The September 11th terrorist attacks were the type of events we thought could never happen. Like other types of disasters they were unexpected, sudden and overwhelming. In some cases, there are no outwardly visible signs of physical injury, but there is nonetheless a serious emotional toll. It is common for people who have experienced traumatic situations to have very strong emotional reactions. Understanding normal responses to these abnormal events can aid you in coping effectively with your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and help you along the path to recovery. (American Psychological Association)
  
  
• Help With Grief and Trauma (AFL-CIO)
  
  
• Traumatic Incident Stress: Information for Emergency Response Workers (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)
  
  
• American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) Resources/Response Guidelines for Occupational Physicians Who May Deal with Psychological Trauma in the Workplace as a Result of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks
  

For reference material on psychological health, click here.

Occupational and environmental safety and health hazards have an effect on everyone, going far beyond the concerns resulting from the World Trade Center catastrophe or bioterrorism. For more information on the identification, control and elimination of workplace and workplace-related hazards, and to learn more about the struggle to ensure that every workplace is safe and healthful, please explore the our extensive website and its 2000 links to other Internet resources on the subject. To visit our site map, please click here.