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WTC Left Sedimentary Fingerprint
Quixotic1 writes "The NSF announced scientists had found a "distinct fingerprint on the sedimentary record in New York Harbor" due to the destruction of the World Trade Center. The findings were extrapolated from the presence of high concentrations of several elements that make up gypsum, a material used in drywall, and silica, likely from fiberglass."
The point of the article was that we have an event made at a particular time, that left a signature in the sediments. This allows us to track those sediments over time to find out how they are transported in that harbor.
This may become important if, say, a dirty bomb were set off in that city, and we wanted to assess the cost of cleaning up the harbor. It could also be used to study the effects of human water pollution on the sea-floor life in the area.
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It's a true fact that asbestos insulation was used in the construction of the WTC (up to the 64th floor, when NYC banned asbestos use in 1971).
The real "myth" is if exposure to asbestos fibers causes cancer in the long term. So far the only cases observed have been in extreme exposure cases (like miners), and long-term smokers that were exposed to fibers. The Cryptome article describes the "junk-science" that started the asbestos hysteria in the 1970s (and continues to this day)
The amount of friable asbestos fibers in the WTC collapse certainly exposed many people but the long-term results, if any, won't been seen for decades.
The author also argues that if not for the asbestos hysteria, perhaps the steel columns on the floors above 64 would have been saved from the fire and the towers would have held long enough to get more people out. Interesting stuff.