1. ^aDepartment of Environmental Science, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA
2. ^bInstitute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
3. ^cNelson Institute of Environmental Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, Tuxedo, New York 10987, USA
4. ^dEnvironmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
5. ^eUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA

Correspondence: Dr. J.H. Offenberg, Department of Environmental Science, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. Tel.: +1-732-932-3097; Fax: +1-732-932-8644; E-mail: jho@envsci.rutgers.edu

Received 16 February 2003; Accepted 28 July 2003.

Abstract

The explosion and collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) was a catastrophic event that produced an aerosol impacting many residents, workers, and commuters after September 11, 2001. In all, 12 bulk samples of the settled dust were collected at indoor locations surrounding the epicenter of the disaster, including one sample from a residence that had been cleansed and was once again occupied. Additionally, one sample was collected from just outside a fifth story window on the sill. These samples were analyzed for many components, including inorganic and organic constituents as well as morphology of the various particles. The results of the analyses for persistent organic pollutants on dusts that settled at indoor locations are described herein, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and select organo-chlorine pesticides. The ₈₆-PCB concentrations, comprising less than one part per million by mass of the bulk in the two samples analyzed, indicated that PCBs were of limited significance in the dust that settled at indoor locations across lower Manhattan. Likewise, organo-chlorine pesticides, Hexachlorobenzene, Heptachlor, 4,4'-DDE, 2,4'-DDT, 4,4'-DDT and Mirex were found at even lower concentrations in the bulk samples. Conversely, ₃₇-PAHs comprised up to 0.04% (<0.005–0.036%) by mass of the bulk indoor dust in the 11 WTC impacted bulk indoor samples. Analysis of one sample of indoor dusts collected from a vacuum cleaner of a rehabilitated home shows markedly lower PAH concentrations (<0.0005 mass%), as well as differing relative contributions for individual compounds. In addition to similar concentrations, comparison of PAH concentration patterns (i.e. chemical fingerprints) shows that dusts that settled indoors are chemically similar to previously measured WTC dusts found at outdoor locations and that these PAH analyses may be used in identifying dusts of WTC origin at indoor locations, along with ascertaining further needs for cleaning.