Very Fine Aerosols from the World Trade Center Collapse Piles: Anaerobic Incineration?

Environmental anomalies at the World Trade Center: evidence for energetic materials

“…• We see some elements abundantly and others hardly at all, despite similar abundances in the collapse dust. • We see organic species in the very fine mode that would not survive high temperatures (Cahill et al 2003). …”

“…(ENS 2002) But by September 2002, Cahill appeared to have changed his mind on the ''high temperatures,'' and attempted to explain some of the unusually high levels of metals in his data by invoking a new mechanism of ''anaerobic incineration.'' Because the existence of high-temperature fires, necessary to volatilize such metals, was not compatible with the common understanding that only typical fuel sources could be involved, it was proposed that chlorine was present at concentrations of *10%, causing the metals to volatilize at lower temperatures (Cahill et al 2003;Dalton 2003).…”

“…(Cahill et al 2003) A better explanation for the data collected involves the presence of short-lived, violent fires at GZ. A typical modern day form of thermite, used in military devices for metal cutting, is thermate, with finely powdered sulfur added as part of a flare mixture.…”