Ground zero air quality was 'brutal' for months

Thomas Cahill, a UC Davis scientist, has confirmed via his own research that the air surrounding the WTC site in the days and months following the attacks on 9/11 was full of pollutants including "very fine metals, which interfere with lung chemistry; sulfuric acid, which attacks lung cells; carcinogenic organic matter; and very fine insoluble particles such as glass, which travel through the lungs and into the bloodstream and heart," according to the SF Chronicle.

Cathill's study mirrors some of the findings of the EPA's own internal investigation, which found that the EPA issued misleading assurances to the public about the safety of the air while under pressure from the White House.