USGS studies long-term health risks from 9/11

Earth magazine : Over the past decade, a team from the US Geological Survey has been studying the long-term health risks for rescue workers, civilians, and survivors directly affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps called in the USGS because of its expertise in categorizing dust and airborne contaminants, especially using remote sensing. Since 2001 the USGS has been increasingly involved in disaster response; it sent out teams in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina and in 2007 and 2009 during the California wildfires. Meg Marquardt, writing for the American Geological Institute’s Earth magazine, discusses the USGS’s methods and what they have found.