Text size:

Study: 7 out of 10 WTC rescuers have suffered lung problems

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | STAFF WRITER

3:42 PM EDT, September 5, 2006

Nearly 70% of the people who worked at Ground Zero after 9/11 developed breathing problems, doctors said Tuesday when announcing the results of a health study they say proves a conclusive link between Sept. 11 cleanup work and longterm respiratory diseases.

The largest health study of its kind, based on physical examinations of 9,442 cops, iron workers, and others who volunteered or worked downtown, found that 70% of them reported new or worsened chronic breathing conditions since responding to the attacks.

"There should no longer be any doubt about the health effects of the World Trade Center. Our patients are sick and are going to need health monitoring and treatment for the rest of their lives." said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the Mount Sinai Medical Center World Trade Center Volunteer Medical Screening Program.

One-third of people in the program not only complained of decreased lung function but had abnormal breathing tests. Among the non-smokers tested in the study, 27% scored abnormally low on breathing tests -- twice the rate of the general population's.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Carolyn Maloney criticized the federal government for lying about air-quality conditions in the days after 9/11, and for not doing enough for people suffering 9/11-related injuries.

"This study -- I hope -- puts to rest any doubts about what happened to those who were exposed" to toxins during the recovery process, Clinton said.

Approximately 40,000 people worked or volunteered at Ground Zero.

While announcing the opening of the city's own 9/11 health center at Bellevue Hospital, Mayor Michael Bloomberg cast doubts on the Mount Sinai study's claims, saying, "I don't believe that you can say specifically a particular problem came from this particular event."

The doctor appointed by the Bush administration to coordinate the study and treatment of 9/11-related illnesses called the findings "extremely important" and would cause lawmakers to react. Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, said the report demonstrates a causal relationship between exposure at Ground Zero and breathing problems.

"This is a strong association," Dr. John Howard said.

"That suspicion that I just talked about -- that's fading a little bit. It should, and anyone who understands scientific correlation" would not be able to deny these findings.