As rescue workers battled fires and searched for survivors in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, federal regulators toiled nearby to help protect public health and safety.

	ROLL CALL PHOTOS/DOUGLAS GRAHAM

EPA sent more than 200 criminal investigators, forensic and technical specialists, and emergency response experts to help FBI and Federal Emergency Management Agency staff at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) deployed 328 medical personnel from disaster readiness teams and 270 mortuary services workers. And OSHA advised the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms about worker protection during rescue operations and counseled the Manhattan utility, Consolidated Edison, about safety regulations for workers digging trenches to reach natural gas leaks stemming from the incident.

EPA monitored air quality at the World Trade Center, in the Wall Street district, and in Brooklyn, where winds blew smoke and ash after hijackers slammed two commercial jetliners into what were the city's tallest buildings.

Asbestos was found at the New York and Pentagon crash sites. The highest levels of airborne asbestos were found within a half a block of ground zero of the Manhattan attack, EPA says. There, rescue workers were provided with protective equipment. In other areas of New York and near the Pentagon crash site, asbestos was not detected or the mineral was at concentrations below EPA's "level of concern."

Asbestos, a mineral fiber, is a known human carcinogen. It formerly was used as an insulating material. According to EPA, the first 40 floors of the World Trade Center's Tower 1 contained chrysotile asbestos. The asbestos insulation originally installed in Tower 2 had been removed, an EPA spokeswoman tells C&EN. EPA could provide no specific information about asbestos in the Pentagon.

Most samples of debris dust in New York had so little asbestos that they did not meet the agency's definition of asbestos-containing material. Where samples showed higher levels, EPA sent 10 high-efficiency particulate-arresting (HEPA) vacuum trucks to clean the area. The greatest concentration of asbestos, at levels slightly higher than EPA's threshold of 1% for asbestos-containing material, was in the debris pile left after the collapse of the two towers, the agency spokeswoman said.

The agency will continue to monitor air quality at the sites to ensure the safety of recovery workers and criminal investigators.

Last week, the agency said HEPA vacuum trucks would clean the lobbies of five federal buildings near the World Trade Center site and the streets near New York's City Hall.

In addition to workers, federal agencies also provided supplies to the disaster sites. EPA sent some 3,000 respirators, 60 breathing machines, and 10,000 protective suits for responders.

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson on Sept. 11 authorized the first emergency use of the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile. In this effort, the department's Centers for Disease Control & Prevention sent truckloads of pharmaceuticals, intravenous and airway supplies, bandages, dressings, and other materials to New York. CDC also provided intravenous fluid and ventilators.

The Labor Department established teams to speed the processing of workers' compensation claims for civilian federal workers injured while involved in rescue and recovery efforts.

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