In the Aftermath of 9/11
[In a muted voice one of our Brooklyn College students who was an iron worker involved in the cleanup at ground zero reported to us Thursday night the first hand experience that he and thousands of others underwent cleaning up and removing the debris -- material and human -- left behind at the World Trade Center site. His report left us devastated, as were the great bulk of the thousands of workers there, who have apparently suffered long-term and indeterminate damage to their lungs and voice boxes, and also to their senses of well being -- post traumatic stress being wide-spread among them.
While millions of dollars were distributed to the families of those killed that tragic day, the workers who are now suffering uncertain medical futures were at best sent Medicaid cards, which with shifting HMO assignments for those who did receive them, leave them subject to all too often inadequate medical care and, of course, no financial support for those no longer able to work at their former jobs.
Our student is trying to restart his life through college courses. He has so far lost about 10% of his lung capacity. He can no longer sing a note. He speaks softly and sadly of the experience these hard working professionals endured. He bears our 'enemies' no enmity. He does not seek revenge. He is one of my best informed students about current events that for the most part have passed the American public by. I doubt that he will be cheering the Bush revisit to the site and he may skip the 60 Minutes report tonight in which former EPA director Whitman will allegedly blame the Giuliani administration for the inadequate protections it allowed the thousands of workers there who now must live on with scarred lungs and tormented memories. Ed Kent]
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Many 9/11 Workers Have Lung Issues, Report Says
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By MARIA NEWMAN
Published: September 5, 2006
In the largest study so far of post-9/11 health problems, almost 70 percent of workers who helped with the cleanup of the World Trade Center site suffered new or worsened respiratory symptoms, researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center found.
The study found that people who worked on the cleanup had pulmonary abnormalities of twice the rate in the comparable United States population and that the abnormalities persisted for many months and, in some cases, years after exposure.
The findings are based on medical examinations performed between July 2002 and April 2004 on 9,500 workers and volunteers who took part in the cleanup of the twin towers, doctors from the center said at a news conference today.
The report found a high rate of illness among those studied, and also found that the illnesses persisted in high proportion years after the 2001 event.
“Many who worked at ground zero in the early days after the attacks have sustained serious and lasting health problems as a direct result of their exposure to the environment there,” Dennis Charney, the dean for academic and scientific affairs at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said in a statement issued with the report.
“This study scientifically confirms high rates of respiratory problems in a large number of responders — including construction workers, law enforcement officers, utilities workers and public sector workers,” he said.
The study monitored the health of 12,000 people who helped with the trade center cleanup, a diverse group that included many people in addition to firefighters and police officers. All of them received comprehensive evaluations that included physical examinations, mental health evaluations, pulmonary function tests, chest X-rays, blood tests and urinalysis.
Of the group of 12,000 initially examined, 9,500 agreed to allow their results to be used in the report that will be published in Thursday’s edition of Environmental Health Perspectives, the journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Among the report’s chief findings:
Almost 70 percent of those who responded had a new or worsened respiratory symptom that developed during or after their time working at the World Trade Center site.
Among the workers who were showed no such symptoms before 9/11, 61 percent developed respiratory symptoms while working at the site.
Almost 60 percent still had a new or worsened respiratory symptom when they were examined for the study.
One third had abnormal pulmonary function tests, much higher than expected.
Severe respiratory conditions, including pneumonia, were significantly more common in the six months after 9/11 than in the six months before the event.
Those who arrived first at the site suffered the heaviest exposures, the report found, which is significant because 70 percent of those screened arrived at the site in the first few days after the disaster, between Sept. 11 and 13.
In the past year, the responders seen by doctors involved in the study have suffered from upper respiratory illnesses, like sinusitis, laryngitis, and vocal cord dysfunction; lower respiratory disorders, like asthma and World Trade Center cough; psychological disorders, like post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic depression; and musculoskeletal problems, often from injuries that occurred while working on the pile.
Mount Sinai continues to screen responders and has tested an additional 4,000 since April 2004.
“We encourage anyone who worked at ground zero, especially in the early days after September 11, who has not yet been screened, to come for an evaluation,” said Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, chairman of the department of community and preventive medicine at Mount Sinai. “It is important that those who gave so heroically in the aftermath of the disaster be assured that they will be able to get all the medical care they need.”
Mount Sinai’s ongoing monitoring program is supported with money from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
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"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
While millions of dollars were distributed to the families of those killed that tragic day, the workers who are now suffering uncertain medical futures were at best sent Medicaid cards, which with shifting HMO assignments for those who did receive them, leave them subject to all too often inadequate medical care and, of course, no financial support for those no longer able to work at their former jobs.
Our student is trying to restart his life through college courses. He has so far lost about 10% of his lung capacity. He can no longer sing a note. He speaks softly and sadly of the experience these hard working professionals endured. He bears our 'enemies' no enmity. He does not seek revenge. He is one of my best informed students about current events that for the most part have passed the American public by. I doubt that he will be cheering the Bush revisit to the site and he may skip the 60 Minutes report tonight in which former EPA director Whitman will allegedly blame the Giuliani administration for the inadequate protections it allowed the thousands of workers there who now must live on with scarred lungs and tormented memories. Ed Kent]
..............................................
Many 9/11 Workers Have Lung Issues, Report Says
Article Tools Sponsored By
By MARIA NEWMAN
Published: September 5, 2006
In the largest study so far of post-9/11 health problems, almost 70 percent of workers who helped with the cleanup of the World Trade Center site suffered new or worsened respiratory symptoms, researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center found.
The study found that people who worked on the cleanup had pulmonary abnormalities of twice the rate in the comparable United States population and that the abnormalities persisted for many months and, in some cases, years after exposure.
The findings are based on medical examinations performed between July 2002 and April 2004 on 9,500 workers and volunteers who took part in the cleanup of the twin towers, doctors from the center said at a news conference today.
The report found a high rate of illness among those studied, and also found that the illnesses persisted in high proportion years after the 2001 event.
“Many who worked at ground zero in the early days after the attacks have sustained serious and lasting health problems as a direct result of their exposure to the environment there,” Dennis Charney, the dean for academic and scientific affairs at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said in a statement issued with the report.
“This study scientifically confirms high rates of respiratory problems in a large number of responders — including construction workers, law enforcement officers, utilities workers and public sector workers,” he said.
The study monitored the health of 12,000 people who helped with the trade center cleanup, a diverse group that included many people in addition to firefighters and police officers. All of them received comprehensive evaluations that included physical examinations, mental health evaluations, pulmonary function tests, chest X-rays, blood tests and urinalysis.
Of the group of 12,000 initially examined, 9,500 agreed to allow their results to be used in the report that will be published in Thursday’s edition of Environmental Health Perspectives, the journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Among the report’s chief findings:
Almost 70 percent of those who responded had a new or worsened respiratory symptom that developed during or after their time working at the World Trade Center site.
Among the workers who were showed no such symptoms before 9/11, 61 percent developed respiratory symptoms while working at the site.
Almost 60 percent still had a new or worsened respiratory symptom when they were examined for the study.
One third had abnormal pulmonary function tests, much higher than expected.
Severe respiratory conditions, including pneumonia, were significantly more common in the six months after 9/11 than in the six months before the event.
Those who arrived first at the site suffered the heaviest exposures, the report found, which is significant because 70 percent of those screened arrived at the site in the first few days after the disaster, between Sept. 11 and 13.
In the past year, the responders seen by doctors involved in the study have suffered from upper respiratory illnesses, like sinusitis, laryngitis, and vocal cord dysfunction; lower respiratory disorders, like asthma and World Trade Center cough; psychological disorders, like post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic depression; and musculoskeletal problems, often from injuries that occurred while working on the pile.
Mount Sinai continues to screen responders and has tested an additional 4,000 since April 2004.
“We encourage anyone who worked at ground zero, especially in the early days after September 11, who has not yet been screened, to come for an evaluation,” said Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, chairman of the department of community and preventive medicine at Mount Sinai. “It is important that those who gave so heroically in the aftermath of the disaster be assured that they will be able to get all the medical care they need.”
Mount Sinai’s ongoing monitoring program is supported with money from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 7:16 AM
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