World Trade Center panel formed to review health protection.

U.S. EPA Acting Deputy Administrator Steve Johnson, U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York), and U.S. EPA officials have announced the formation of an expert technical review panel to obtain greater input into ongoing efforts to monitor health effects for workers and residents affected by the collapse of the World Trade Center. This panel is convened and led by U.S. EPA.

The panel will help guide U.S. EPA's use of available exposure and health surveillance databases and registries. It will characterize any remaining exposures and risks, identify unmet public health needs, and recommend any steps to further minimize the risks associated with the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks.

The panel will be chaired by Dr. Paul Gilman, U.S. EPA Science advisor and assistant administrator for research and development. The panel includes broad representation from other federal health and environmental agencies, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and outside academic and medical experts. Gilman said, "The panel of experts will work openly and transparently. Our objective is to ensure that the health of those impacted is protected."

Over the next six months, the panel will review post-cleaning verification sampling in the residential areas included in U.S. EPA's indoor-air cleanup to verify that re-contamination has not occurred from central heating and air conditioning systems. In that period of time, the panel also will review the World Trade Center Residential Confirmation Cleaning Study. That study concluded that the cleaning methods used in U.S. EPA's indoor cleanup program and recommended to residents who cleaned their own living spaces were effective, and it indicated that asbestos was an appropriate surrogate for which to test.

Within 24 months, the panel will identify areas where the health registry could be enhanced to allow better tracking of post-exposure risks among workers and residents. The panel will review and synthesize the ongoing work of federal, state, and local governments and private entities to determine the characteristics of the WTC plume and where it was dispersed, including the geographic extent of monitoring and testing conducted by U.S. EPA and other entities, and possibly recommend additional evaluations for consideration by U.S. EPA and other public agencies.

For additional information, visit www.epa.gov/wtc/panel.