On September 12, a regional EPA office volunteered to send 30 to 40 electron
microscopes to Ground Zero to test bulk dust samples for the presence of asbestos fibers, according to EPA whistle - blower Cate Jenkins, yet the local EPA office declined the offer, opting for the less effective
polarized light microscopy testing method instead.
An S2 however, would show under the
microscope some uneven darkening of olivine crystals as the specimen is examined in
polarized light and there might be cracking of mineral grains in along paths other than the normal cleavage of the crystals.