Toxic Dust Was Everywhere After 9/11. Little Was Done for Months.

Newly released records shed light on how toxic dust from the World Trade Center towers spread into homes after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and how residents were largely left without clear guidance for months. In the week after the attacks, officials focused on outdoor air, even as an EPA administrator reassured New Yorkers it was safe without enough data. Around the same time, public health experts sampled indoor dust and air in two apartments—one near ground zero and another several blocks north—finding elevated asbestos in both. City officials did not address indoor contamination until months later, offering advice centered on wet mopping.