Trade Center dust

Cheryl Hogue's piece, "Terrorism's Legacy," was timely (C&EN, Jan. 9, page 36). In recent days, a New York City police officer succumbed to what may have been an acute exposure to World Trade Center dust. The terror attacks of 9/11 were, as we all know, unprecedented in nature. When coupled with an inferno that took months to extinguish, we were in uncharted territory regarding the chemical composition of the WTC dust.

The analytical chemistry task was daunting. Constituents of the WTC dust were extremely difficult to qualitatively identify. For quantitative analysis to be meaningful, calibration standards would need to be tested under conditions approximating the environment at Ground Zero.

Without meaningful quantitative data, a determination of the exposure to toxics by the public could not be made. While Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) remains critical of the federal response, her position is scientifically indefensible.

The "slag wool" may have been the best reference standard. In this politically "dark blue" region, the lack of a meaningful reference standard was all that was needed by a skeptical public to define the impasse as more "Bush Science."

ACS does have a role in investigating calamities such as the destruction of the WTC. I suggest that a roster of ACS members who are specialists in the various subdisciplines be made available to support investigations. Chemical professionals can help take the politics out of such investigations and benefit our fellow citizens in their time of need.

David M. Manuta
Waverly, Ohio