WTC Rescue Workers' Health Suffering, Government Says

[Guest guest]

NOTE: I have read recently that there were an estimated 1,000,000

mercury vapor fluorescent lights inside the Twin Towers. That

certainly created a a severely neuro-hazardous environment for the

workers. The article fails to mention mercury specifically, of course.

http://news./news?

tmpl=story & u=/nm/20040909/hl_nm/health_attacks_dc_5

WTC Rescue Workers' Health Suffering, Government Says

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. 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.

[Guest guest]

I know the people that were done there were breathing in VERY dangerous

toxins and I strongly feel that unfortunately, they will have numerous amounts

of

problems down the road. It's very sad.

I live 15 minutes away from Manhattan and that smoke was in the air for a

VERY long time, I was able to smell it for a long time also. The smell of death

was just horrific.

It's so sad to see that the people that made it out alive, will still suffer

down the road with a number of other health problems.

Vicki 's Mommy HFA/Mercury Poisoned 7 1/2 years old

Gone but NOT forgotten 9-11-01

We will NEVER forget