Airborne Fine and Ultrafine Particles Near the World Trade Center Disaster Site

Author: Cohen Beverly  

Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

ISSN: 1521-7388

Source: Aerosol Science and Technology, Vol.38, Iss.4, 2004-04, pp. : 338-348

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Abstract

Documentation of the airborne fine and ultrafine particles produced by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center (WTC), particularly while fires were burning, was essential for evaluating the risk of adverse health effects in people who live and work in this area. We collected airborne particles for 3 months at a site about 400 m east of the former WTC. Ultrafine particles were collected by deposition onto small detector chips for morphometric analysis by atomic force microscopy. Some chips were coated with an iron nanofilm for detection of strong acids. A condensation nucleus counter and two impactors measured particle number concentrations and size distributions. Collected particles exhibited a variety of globular forms, and most appeared to be agglomerates. No ultrafine acid particles were detected. Particle number concentrations ranged from below 1 × 104 cm−3 to about 5 × 104 cm−3. Occasional peaks reached values over 7 × 104 cm−3. The average total mass concentration was about 17 μ g/m3 in mid-October, about half that value in November, and as low as 5 μg/m3 in mid-December. Particle size distributions were mostly bimodal. The mass concentration of very fine particles (0.1 μ m to 0.29 μ m) ranged from 4.3 μ g/m3 to 0.7 μ g/m3, and the ultrafine (d < 0.1="" μm)="" ranged="" from="" 1.46="" μ="" g/m3="" to="" nondetectable="" after="" 5="" november="" 2001.="" some="" backup="" filters="" from="" the="" october="" sampling="" sessions="" were="" analyzed="" for="" organic="" and="" elemental="" carbon="" (oc/ec)="" and="" polyaromatic="" hydrocarbons="" (pah).="" about="" 70%="" of="" the="" total="" carbon="" was="" organic.="" the="" pah="" levels="" ranged="" from="" 10="" to="" 1500="" ng="" m−3.="" overall,="" our="" data="" for="" particle="" mass="" and="" number="" concentrations="" did="" not="" differ="" substantially="" from="" data="" we="" had="" collected="" in="" manhattan="" the="" previous="" year.="" the="" dominant="" organic="" compounds="" found="" in="" these="" samples="" are="" those="" most="" common="" in="" urban="" environments.="" these="" data="" do="" not="" suggest,="" but="" cannot="" rule="" out,="" an="" unusual="" risk="" of="" adverse="" health="" effects="" from="" the="" number,="" or="" mass,="" of="" the="" fine="" ambient="" particles.="">