WTC Rescue Workers' Health Suffering, Government Says

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WTC Rescue Workers' Health Suffering, Government Says

 

 

Thu Sep 9, 4:29 PM ET

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly half of the more than 1,000 screened rescue workers

who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks suffer from new or exacerbated

respiratory, mental and other health problems, according to a government report

released on Thursday.

 

 

 

 

The report, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web

sites), is the second released in two days to find that firefighters, police

officers and volunteers show persistent effects from environmental toxins and

psychological stress.

 

On Wednesday, a similar study from the Government Accountability Office, the

investigative arm of Congress, noted that many rescue workers suffer wheezing,

shortness of breath, sinusitis, asthma and a syndrome called " WTC cough. "

 

The latest health study, conducted at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, showed

that nearly half of the 1,138 people screened had problems that either began or

worsened after being exposed to the dust, airborne toxins and pollutants

unleashed by the collapsed buildings.

 

" These preliminary findings of the WTC Screening Program demonstrate that large

numbers of workers and volunteers suffered persistent, substantial effects on

their respiratory and psychological health as a result of their efforts, " said

Dr. Stephen Levin, co-director of the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer

Medical Screening Program.

 

Of those screened, 51 percent suffered mental health problems and their risk of

post-traumatic stress disorder was four times the rate of the disorder in the

general male population, the report said.

 

The analysis is part of a broader study of about 12,000 people being evaluated

at Mount Sinai.

 

The CDC also released results of the first phase of an investigation, conducted

with the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, into the

evacuation process at the World Trade Center.

 

The report looked at the factors influencing decisions people made as to whether

to leave the twin towers once the attacks had begun. Some were delayed due to

concern about getting permission from their bosses while others stayed to shut

down computers and collect personal items.

 

Structural damage to the building, such as debris on stairs or partially

collapsed interior walls, blocked exits, the report said, and heavy congestion

on certain stairways caused some to back up to seek an alternative route down.

In addition, there was a lack of back-up public address systems or other

communications systems.

 

A separate report published on Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health

Perspectives found that pregnant women who were close to the World Trade Center

at the time of the attack were more likely to give birth to lower-weight babies.

 

The CDC said that only 21 percent of the workers and volunteers participating in

the screening program had appropriate respiratory protection between Sept. 11

and Sept. 14, 2001, the days when the impact of dust, diesel exhaust, pulverized

cement, glass fibers and asbestos was considered the greatest.

 

The CDC plans to continue medical screening for five years.

 

 

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