------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Nov. 22, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
REPORTS RIP LACK OF SAFETY IN TOXIC ZONES By Mary Owen New York For over two months a persistent fire burning beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center has created foul, acrid air that is making people ill. Something called "World Trade Center cough" has developed among those who live and work nearby. Occupational-health doctors report that they are seeing more and more cases of severe sinus irritation. So what exactly is in the smoke? Is it safe to breathe? Has the government tried to adequately protect rescue and other workers near ground zero? And what will be the long- term effects of exposure to toxic contaminants on and after Sept. 11? REPORT CRITICIZES LACK OF WORKER PROTECTION One sobering assessment comes from John Moran. He is a well- respected engineer and industrial hygienist with the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health. A safety and health consultant for 25 years, Moran spent the weeks after Sept. 11 evaluating working conditions at ground zero. His critical report was released in late October. "There is no excuse for what I saw," said Moran. He reported that hundreds of worker injuries at ground zero could have been prevented had the city moved quickly to require proper training and protective equipment. He called it "the most hazardous site I have ever been on." Moran cited major safety violations, such as workers and visitors failing to wear respirators, eye protection or even hard hats--protection that their employers or the government should issue them for free. He said some hazards would increase as the work continues. Workers will be at greater risk for respiratory diseases the longer they stay at the site. Exposure to asbestos will be greater as they dig into the lower floors, where asbestos was extensively used. Moran particularly criticized the city for failing to make a centrally organized effort to see that workers and volunteers--over 5,000 of them--got the training and protective equipment they need. COMPLEX MIX OF UNKNOWN SUBSTANCES Meanwhile, occupational-health experts have characterized the cloud that engulfed lower Manhattan on Sept. 11 as a complex mix of unknown substances. It probably contained pulverized cement, gypsum and glass, among other things. But most say they are not sure they'll ever know exactly what was in the cloud, through which thousands of workers ran for their lives. Health effects from some substances, such as asbestos, might not show up until years later. The responsible public health approach would be to set up a registry of all those who were exposed so they could be tracked into the future. This way health problems could be detected early. Yet there is no indication that the government is taking on this needed task. Officials are preoccupied with making sure that the gold is safely rescued from bank vaults at ground zero. TOXIC AIR Then there is the air quality. The fire at ground zero has burned longer than any commercial building fire in U.S. history. Tons of flammable materials, including paper and fabrics, wall coverings, desks and wood furniture, plastics and more have been feeding the fire and sending noxious clouds through the area. Most of the air monitoring around the recovery zone found low or no levels of dangerous contaminants, according to the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, but some levels have been higher. In the Oct. 26 Daily News, Juan Gonzalez reported that Environmental Protection Agency monitoring had shown spikes in levels of certain toxic contaminants in the nearby air, soil and water. The EPA reported elevated levels of benzene, chlorinated dioxins, chromium, copper, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and sulfur dioxide near the site. "On one day alone, the level of benzene, which can cause leukemia and bone marrow damage with prolonged exposure, was measured at 58 times official safety levels," wrote Michael Ellison in the Oct. 27 Guardian of Britain. "On another day, monitors found the chemical at 42, 31 and 16 times the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's limits at three spots around the site in lower Manhattan." PCBs and chlorinated dioxins are of particular concern. Both can travel some distance in air. Both cause cancer, meaning the only safe level of exposure is zero. Yet Wall Street, the financial district and nearby businesses, city offices and schools--including Borough of Manhattan Community College, Pace University and Stuyvesant High School--have reopened for "business as usual." Workers and students have to come in despite feeling ill and worrying about what they're breathing. Verizon has put telephone workers on round-the-clock shifts in horrendous conditions to get phone service up and running in the area. And cleaning crews, many of them immigrant workers, are sent in with no protective equipment to mop and dust buildings containing potentially hazardous dust, so that businesses can reopen. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the EPA and other environmental watchdog agencies were set up as a result of workers' struggles. So was a network of committees for occupational safety and health, like NYCOSH, which unite labor and occupational health experts to push for greater worker protections. Some New York City unionists have raised the idea of returning to that type of activism to demand that workers in lower Manhattan be protected against safety and health hazards. There could be no better time than now and no better place to launch that struggle than ground zero. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
