January 17th, 2007

The Environmental Protection Agency has embarked upon a program to conduct air testing in the area that was hit by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, when both towers of the World Trade Center collapsed. The collapse of the towers resulted in many deaths, but there were concerns that health hazards and resulting deaths would continue due to toxic dust such as asbestos that may have been released into the air when the buildings collapsed.

Lower Manhattan residents are to be interviewed by officials from the EPA with the intention of getting the air in their offices or their apartments tested. This interview and registration period will go on until the end of March of this year, and once this procedure has been completed the air testing process will commence.

The testing will be carried out in apartments and offices that were close to the twin towers of the World Trade Center. In addition to testing for contamination through asbestos, officials will also be testing for the presence of other toxins such as lead, manmade toxins, and other chemicals that may have been released into the air and could result in health problems.

Over 4,000 units in the area were tested several years ago in a separate bout of testing carried out by the FDA. Concerns were heightened after many of those that worked at Ground Zero following the attacks developed a range of problems such as respiratory problems and gastric problems.