Prelude 9/11 morning Flight 11 hijacked Flight 175 hijacked WTC 1 hit Flight 77 hijacked WTC 2 hit Flight 93 hijacked Pentagon hit WTC 2 collapses Flight 93 crashes WTC 1 collapses WTC 7 collapses Epilogue

Skift til dansk

Using 911facts.dk


How do you get the most out of this site?

Truth Movement

About
Methods
Theories

Publications

Fact sheets

Booking


We are available for booking a lecture or a workshop here.

Facebook

The asbestos dust from Ground Zero was declared safe

Claim

The dust from Ground Zero, containing asbestos among other things, was declared safe the next day. Fire fighters and rescue workers are dying today and suffer from lung ailments0.

Background

The claim insinuates that someone is trying to hide that the buildings contained so much asbestos that the cost of removing it would exceed the value of the buildings. It was therefore decided to blow up the buildings and later cover up the subsequent health risks0.

Another version of the claim points to a crisis situation that would last for decades, when a lot of asbestos and other dangerous substances would be released into the air over New York and surrounding areas0.

Facts

Immediately after September 11, 2001, authorities began to investigate the aftermath of the terror attack. While the enormous rescue work and clearing of the area was on going, the area was also investigated by the relevant authorities.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

CDC is a federal government agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. Its goal is to protect public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability1.

CDC estimated the risk of epidemics caused by the many corpses and body parts present at the scene of the catastrophe and issued guidelines for how rescue workers should conduct themselves2.

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS is an independent scientific research bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior3.

On September 17 and 18, 2001, 35 samples within a radius of 1,000 meters of the World Trade Center were taken. Two of the samples were taken indoors and two from a steel section from the World Trade Center. The results were made public on November 27, 20014.

The dust contained materials commonly used in buildings, office equipment, and similar:

  • Glass fiber particles (silicon, aluminum, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other elements)
  • Gypsum (calcium and sulphates)
  • Concrete (calcium, aluminum hydroxides and a number of silicon minerals)
  • Paper
  • Metals (iron, aluminum, titanium, and other metals.)
  • Organic carbon (paper and other organic materials)
  • Other materials

A number of trace elements of metal from the two steel samples that in all probability have other sources:

  • Paint (titanium, molybdenum, lead, and iron)
  • Wires, pipes, computer equipment (copper)

The results did not arouse suspicion of explosives.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is a federal government agency for environmental protection5.

Environmental studies in the days after September 11 showed as expected an increased level of asbestos, up to four times the limit, on Ground Zero and in the adjacent streets6.

Dangerous compounds at levels that could be a problem outside Ground Zero were not found.

The dust near the blast contains levels of asbestos up to four times the safe level, placing unprotected emergency workers at risk of disease, according to a Bonnie Bellow, the director of communications for the regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency that monitors New York and New Jersey.

As the burnt-rubber smell spread across Manhattan and nearby New Jersey, fears spread that the entire population was receiving a dose of dangerous asbestos and other chemicals.

But Bellow and other officials rushed yesterday to dispel rumors that the plume, which was visible from space, constituted a new health emergency, saying that the danger was confined to those working right at the scene.

”Outside of ground zero, we have not found elevated levels of anything that would cause a problem,” said EPA head Christie Whitman.7

The EPA has warned rescue workers to change their clothes before returning home. It has also warned them to use ventilators because surgical masks will not offer adequate protection from asbestos particles.

When the World Trade Center was being built in the early 1970s, asbestos was initially used to fireproof parts of the buildings, before objections forced the builders to switch to less hazardous materials, Newsday reported yesterday.

With thousands of bodies and parts of bodies thought to be beneath the rubble, workers from the Centers for Disease Control will be testing the air and water for disease. But health workers said they do not expect to find a threat.

”It is important to remember that human remains from explosions and building collapses do not pose a risk of disease epidemics,” said the CDC in a written statement. ”Your priority is to maintain the dignity of the deceased.”7

In the aftermath, the EPA and the city of New York implemented a program where citizens could get advice, guidance, and support for free to have their homes cleaned for debris from the catastrophe8.

Despite safety precautions, it was inevitable that the rescue workers were exposed to dangerous substances during the clean-up phase, as evidenced in the fact that some have experienced health problems in various degrees of severity9.

No efforts were made to hide the existence of asbestos or other dangerous substances, to hide how high the levels were in different areas, or to downplay the risk of being present in the area.

Logic

The claim is absurd given that it would be blatantly obvious where the damage came from. If the goal was to inject fear and terror in the population, with as many killed and wounded as possible, it is foolish to create a situation where the future population dies from environmental damages from the area. That would immediately expose the conspiracy.

The precautions and aid programs initiated following the terror attack contradict that it was planned to hurt the population by blowing up the World Trade Center 1 and 210.

Conclusion

The claim is therefore:

  • Misleading
  • Manipulating
  • Undocumented
  • Self-contradicting

Sources

  1. Løbeseddel, i11time.dk
    World Trade Center Dust – Settled Dust Aerosol From the Pulverized Towers, 9-11 Research
    Ground Zero Hazards – Environmental and Health Impacts of the WTC Bombing, 9-11 Research
    Asbestos in the WTC – Towers’ Destruction ‘Solved’ Asbestos Problem, 9-11 Research