Asbestos was also used in the first forty floors of the World Trade Center north tower causing an airborne contamination among lower Manhattan after the towers collapsed in the September 11 attacks , causing Steven Milloy of the libertarian Cato Institute to suggest that the World Trade Center towers could still be standing or at least would have stood longer had a 1971 ban not stopped the completion of the asbestos coating above the 64th floor . This was not considered in the National Institute of Standards and Technology 's report on the towers ' collapse , on the basis that all fireproofing materials , regardless of their construction , are required to obtain a fire-resistance rating prior to installation , and all fiber-based lightweight commercial spray fireproofing materials are vulnerable to the dispersive effects of high speed/high energy impacts , as these are outside the fire testing upon which all ratings are based . Therefore , asbestos would have made little or no difference in preventing the towers ' collapse , if used as fireproofing , and upon collapse any asbestos , however used , would still have been largely dispersed into the air within the massive dust cloud
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Health impact of asbestos