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Article

Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Dusts That Settled across Lower Manhattan after September 11, 2001

Supporting Info

J. H. Offenberg,*^† S. J. Eisenreich,^†^# L. C. Chen,^‡ M. D. Cohen,^‡ G. Chee,^‡ C. Prophete,^‡ C. Weisel,^§ and P. J. Lioy^§

Department of Environmental Science, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, Tuxedo, New York 10987, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, 170 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New JerseyRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, and Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy

Environ. Sci. Technol., 2003, 37 (3), pp 502–508

DOI: 10.1021/es025730g

Publication Date (Web): December 18, 2002

Corresponding author phone: (732)932-3097; fax: (732)932-8644; e-mail: jho@envsci.rutgers.edu.

, †

Rutgers University.

, #

Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre.

, ‡

NYU School of Medicine.

, §

Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute.

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New JerseyRobert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Abstract

The explosion and collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) was a catastrophic event that produced an aerosol impacting many workers, residents, and commuters during the first few days after September 11, 2001. During the initial days that followed, 14 bulk samples of the settled dust were collected at locations surrounding the epicenter of the disaster, including one indoor location. Some samples were analyzed for many potential hazards, including inorganic and organic constituents as well as morphology. The results of the analyses for persistent organic pollutants are described herein, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and select organochlorine pesticides on settled dust samples. The ∑₈₆-PCBs comprising less than 0.001% by mass of the bulk in the three bulk samples analyzed indicated that PCBs were of limited significance in the total settled dust across lower Manhattan. Likewise, organochlorine pesticides, including chlordanes, hexachlorobenzene, heptachlor, 4,4‘-DDE, 2,4‘-DDT, 4,4‘-DDT, and Mirex, were found at low concentrations in the bulk samples. Conversely, the ∑₃₇-PAHs comprised up to nearly 0.04% (<0.005−0.039%) by mass of the bulk settled dust in the six bulk samples. Further size segregation of these three initial bulk samples and seven additional samples indicates that ∑₃₇-PAHs were found in higher concentrations on relatively large particles (10−53 μm), representing up to 0.04% of the total dust mass. Significant concentrations were also found on fine particles (<2.5 μm), often accounting for 0.005% by mass. We estimate that approximately 100−1000 tons of ∑₃₇-PAHs were spread over a localized area immediately after the WTC disaster on September 11.