Terrorist attacks: do we know how to assess the results?

Our plain-English summary of Terrorist attacks: do we know how to assess the results?, by W.J. Manning (TheScientificWorldJournal, 2001).

The study

• Author: W.J. Manning
• Journal: TheScientificWorldJournal
• Published: 2001;1:588-9
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

On September 11, 2001, terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City. Explosions and fires resulted in the complete collapse of the two WTC towers. The collapsing towers served as enormous point sources of gaseous and particulate air pollution, seen as huge plumes of smoke and dust. The smoke contained volatile organic compounds and fine particles and aerosols. The dust fraction contained parts of ceiling tiles, carpets, concrete, adhesives, asbestos, chromium, lead, titanium, and many other elements and materials. Whether there were unusually toxic ingredients in the plumes is largely unknown.

In plain English

This two-page commentary by a single author, published shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, reported no new research data. It discussed how to assess the smoke and dust released when the two World Trade Center towers in New York City collapsed. The author noted that the dust contained asbestos along with concrete, ceiling tile, carpet, chromium, lead and other materials, and that whether the plumes held unusually toxic ingredients was largely unknown. The author reported that researchers funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences began limited air and dust sampling on September 12. Their initial results indicated that what they monitored did not pose short- or long-term health risks, even for asbestos. The author said it was unknown whether those standard methods were appropriate after a building collapse. The author suggested the collapse may have released asbestos particles at or below 2.5 microns in diameter, while asbestos monitoring seemed to have been done for particles of 5.0 microns. The commentary also discussed chemical and biological weapons, including anthrax mailings. The author concluded that standard, adequate assessment methods need to be developed.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: commentary (opinion piece; no original data collected)
• Who was studied: No study population. The commentary concerns the September 11, 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center towers in New York City and its survivors and rescuers.
• Exposure: Smoke and dust from the collapse of the WTC towers. The dust included asbestos (fiber type not specified), concrete, ceiling tiles, carpets, adhesives, chromium, lead, titanium and other materials.
• Main results:
  • The author reported, from other researchers' work, that NIEHS-funded university researchers who began limited air and dust sampling on September 12 found initial results indicating that what they monitored did not pose short- or long-term health risks, even for asbestos. These are not this article's own results.
  • The author stated that it was unknown whether those standard sampling methods were appropriate for assessing the collapse of huge buildings.
  • The author suggested the force of the collapse may have released asbestos particles at or below 2.5 microns in diameter.
  • The author noted that asbestos air monitoring seemed to have been done for particles of 5.0 microns in diameter, in line with EPA standards.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that standard, adequate methods are needed to quickly assess the short-term effects and long-term health risks of terrorist attacks.

Related studies

• Health and environmental consequences of the world trade center disaster — P.J. Landrigan, P.J. Lioy, et al. (2004)
• Mind and matter: OEM and the World Trade Center — H.M. Kipen, M. Gochfeld (2002)
• Characterization of the dust/smoke aerosol that settled east of the World Trade Center (WTC) in lower Manhattan after the collapse of the WTC 11 September 2001 — P.J. Lioy, C.P. Weisel, et al. (2002)
• Environmental aftermath — L. Claudio (2001)
• The WTC disaster and asbestos regulations — J.H. Lange (2004)
• Safety and health of heavy equipment operators at Ground Zero — B.E. Lippy (2002)

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