“We have established a comprehensive program of environmental checks to fully assess the risks and take appropriate action,” the statement said. “Professor Stec is part of an independent group of scientists overseeing this work and her findings will inform the checks we are conducting.”

The ministry urged residents with health concerns to speak to their local doctors, saying they would arrange for additional health checks.

The shift in the government’s attitude parallels that seen in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Rescue and cleanup workers at the World Trade Center were at first allowed to toil there without respirators, and both New York City and federal officials were later accused of playing down the risks from inhaling dust and smoke from the site. In the following years, studies firmly linked the ailments of hundreds of people to that exposure.

Near the Grenfell site, residents responded to the latest evidence of contamination with anger and frustration, saying the findings of the study had confirmed their longstanding health concerns that were consistently dismissed by the authorities as paranoia.

“I have questioned what immediate and long-term heath screening was being put in place to monitor what was locally becoming known as the ‘Grenfell Cough,’ yet the response from officials has always been that the area was safe and that local G.P.s had not reported any increase in symptoms,” said Judy Bolton, a former nurse and local resident.

“Now, in March 2019, we are being told that our health has been put at risk and is likely to be in the future,” she added. “Who is being held responsible and accountable for, yet again, ignoring the entirely valid concerns of local residents? The authorities in question should hang their heads in shame.”