NYU holds forum on air quality in NYC following World Trade Center disaster

On Thursday, October 18, NYU School of Medicine will hold a community forum at NYU School of Law in Washington Square to discuss a wide range of environmental health issues relating to the World Trade Center disaster. Researchers from the leading institutions in New York and New Jersey who are analyzing air, dust, and other materials at ground zero and surrounding communities, and in areas north of the disaster will speak about their findings so far and their plans for studies in the coming months.

Reporters will have the opportunity to interview the researchers who are monitoring air quality in the city and plan to evaluate the health of rescue workers at ground zero. They also will have the opportunity to gauge the concerns of the downtown community at this forum.

"So far, all of the data from government and independent studies indicate that the air in the community around ground zero and in Manhattan does not appear to represent a health risk to the general population," says George Thurston, Associate Professor of Environmental Medicine at NYU School of Medicine, who organized the forum. "But researchers are not done with all of their evaluations. People with pre-existing disease, such as cardiac problems, emphysema, and asthma, should be more careful about avoiding exposure to the dust and smoke in lower Manhattan," he says.

Environmental health experts at NYU School of Medicine's Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine, based in Tuxedo Park, NY, are conducting a series of investigations at NYU Downtown Hospital, the hospital closest to ground zero, and Battery Park and other residential locations. Their studies will help determine if there were toxic organic or inorganic substances, such as asbestos, lead and other heavy metals, in the dust from the collapse of the towers, and if the air quality poses any danger of lung disease or other health problems.

"Our results so far," says Dr. Thurston, "confirm what the EPA is finding, namely that there are very low levels of asbestos in dust and there is no asbestos in the small particles that deeply penetrate the lung." The NYU researchers will continue to monitor air pollution levels in lower Manhattan to determine if there are future episodes of pollution from the World Trade Center site.

Medical and environmental health experts from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Columbia University, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey who are involved with air monitoring studies and with following the health of rescue workers and the general public will discuss their investigations at the forum. Speakers will also offer recommendations about what people who live in communities closest to ground zero can do to determine if their health has been affected by the air quality in their neighborhoods.

WHERE: New York University School of Law
VANDERBILT HALL
TISHMAN AUDITORIUM
40 WASHINGTON SQUARE SOUTH

WHEN: Thursday, October 18

TIME: 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

PROGRAM:

Introduction: Goals and Forum Agenda, George Thurston, NYU-NIEHS Community Outreach and Education Program

Speaker Presentations:

NYU SOM Investigations of Potential Risks from the WTC Disaster to Lower Manhattan Residents, Dr. Paolo Toniolo and Dr. Edward Kuczynski

Columbia University Investigations into Potential Effects of the WTC Disaster on Pregnant Women and Newborns, Dr. Frederica Perera, Columbia School of Public Health

EOHSI (UMDNJ) World Trade Center Investigations/ Multi-Center WTC Dust Sample Analyses, Dust Sample Analyses, Dr. Paul Lioy, University of Dentistry and Medicine of New Jersey

NYU SOM World Trade Center Related Air Monitoring Investigations, Dr. George Thurston

Mt. Sinai WTC Rescue Worker Impact Investigations/ Asbestos
Issues: Jacqueline M. Moline, Mt. Sinai Medical Center

Odors, Chemical Sensitivities, and Stress Factors in Exposure Individuals, Dr. Howard Kippen, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

8:10 p.m. Interactive Q & A Session

9:30 p.m. Program Evaluation

SPEAKERS

George Thurston, Sc.D-New York University School of Medicine
Associate Professor of Environmental Medicine; Director, Community Outreach
Research interests: Human health effects of inhaled air pollutants, air pollution, asthma, aerosol science, and air pollution meteorology and modeling.

Frederica Perera-Columbia University
Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia School of Public Health; Head of the Program in Molecular Epidemiology
Research interests: Lung and breast cancer, chemoprevention, risk assessment, gene-environment interactions, biomarker validation, and reproductive health.

Paul Lioy Ph.D.-EOHSI (UMDNJ) Rutgers University
Deputy Director of EOHSI and Director, Exposure Measurement & Assessment Division
Research interests: Human exposure to environmental pollution, air pollution, multimedia pollution issues, environmental contamination, and photochemical smog and its effects on health and atmosphere.

Jacqueline Moline, MD, MSc-Mt. Sinai
Director, Occupational Residency Program; Assistant Professor of Medicine and Community and Prevention Medicine
Research interests: Effects of pregnancy and lactation on body burdens of lead and acute chronic lead exposure, environmental and occupational lung disease and the effect of a person's occupation and his or her environment on reproductive health.

Paulo Toniolo Ph.D.-New York University School of Medicine
Program Director for the NYU-NIEHS Center Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program
Research interests: Epidemiology of breast cancer.

Howard Kipen, M.D., Mph-EOHSI (UMDNJ) Rutgers University
Acting Chairman of Environmental and Community Medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Research interests: Pulmonary and hematologic disease, effects of environmental carcinogens, including asbestos, multiple chemical sensitivities.

OTHER EXPERT PANEL MEMBERS

Max Costa, Ph.D.-New York University
Professor & Chairman, Environmental Medicine; Director, Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine; Professor of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology
Research interests: Metals and their human health effects including cancer and other adverse human health effects.

Martin Jack Blaser, M.D.-New York University School of Medicine Professor and Chairman Department of Medicine, Professor of Microbiology

Luz Claudio Ph.D.-Mt. Sinai Medical Center Director of Community Outreach & Education; Assistant Professor, Neurotoxicology

Hugh Evans, Ph.D.-New York University School of Medicine
Professor of Environmental Medicine,
Research interests: Neurotoxicology and the influence of environmental exposures upon nervous system disorders.

Melinda Gellman, Ph.D.-New York University School of Medicine
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Gellman has been active in counseling and community relief efforts.

Friedman-Jiménez, George, M.D.-New York University School of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Environmental Medicine; Director of Environmental Medicine Clinic at Bellevue Hospital
Research interests: Occupational and clinical epidemiology; epidemiologic methods.

Joan Reibman, M.D.-New York University School of Medicine
Associate Professor; Director Asthma Center
Research interests: Asthma, respirator y tract diseases; control and regulation of inflammatory responses in the lung.

Zhansi (Jessie) Cen, M.A.
Science Teacher at Lower East Side Prep HS
Participated in editorial and printing work for the Chinese community. Translates English educational documents into Chinese for the NY Board of Education

Rae Zimmerman Ph.D.-New York University, Wagner School of Public Service
Professor of Planning and Public Administration; Director Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems (ICIS)

FOR MORE INFORMATION

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-epa.gov
Occupational Safety and Health Administration-osha.gov
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)-www.niehs.nih.gov and http://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/outreach.htm
New York City Department of Health- www.nyc.gov
NYOSH
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- www.cdc.gov
Federal Emergency Management Agency- www.fema.gov

New York University School of Medicine World Trade Center Information

New York University Department of Environmental Medicine
http://niem.med.nyu.edu/niehs/coep/outreach.html

Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI), University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (UMDNJ-RWJMS) and Rutgers
http://www.eohsi.rutgers.edu/niehs/niehs.html

Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/dert/programs/translat/children/children.htm

Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/dert/programs/translat/children/children.htm
www.mountsinai.org/hosp

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