Asbestos inhalation risk emerges post-Katrina

The widespread demolition and renovation activities still under way in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 may release asbestos fibers into the air, posing a potential additional health risk, the U.S. Government and Accountability Office (GAO) wrote in a recent report.The report, conducted at the Comptroller General’s initiative, addresses the actions of the Environmental Protection Agency in assessing and mitigating public health risks following Katrina’s environmental impacts.The report talks about the extent to which EPA has assurance that public health is protected from asbestos inhalation risks in New Orleans.The report notes that under challenging circumstances, EPA has worked with federal and state partners to respond to chemical and oil spills, collect abandoned chemical containers, coordinate recycling of damaged appliances, and collect and recycle electronic waste. EPA has also conducted air, water, sediment, and soil sampling; helped assess drinking water and wastewater infrastructures; and issued timely information to the public on a variety of environmental health risks.However, as cleanup continues, the GOP report continues, EPA’s assurance that public health is protected from risks associated with inhalation of asbestos fibers is limited because the agency has not deployed air monitors in and around New Orleans neighborhoods where demolition and renovation activities are concentrated.GOA noted the EPA took steps to monitor asbestos after the hurricane by, for example, more than doubling the number of ambient (outdoor) air monitors and monitoring emissions at debris reduction sites.But monitors were not placed in areas undergoing substantial demolition and renovation, such as the Ninth Ward, the report states. This is problematic because monitors effectively detect releases of asbestos from demolition activities only if they are located immediately adjacent to demolition sites.Further, the GOA noted, many thousands of homes being demolished and renovated by or for individual homeowners are generally not subject to EPA’s asbestos emissions standards aimed at limiting releases of fibers into the air.While EPA provided useful environmental health risk information to the public via flyers, public service announcements, and the EPA Web page, the report says, the communications were at times unclear and inconsistent on how to mitigate exposure to some contaminants, particularly asbestos and mold.