Lung Problems Persist for 9/11 Responders

THURSDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Almost a quarter of a sample of people exposed to toxic dust after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack in New York City still suffer from diminished lung capacity, a new study finds.

The rate of problems is much higher than normal, about 2.5 times more than would be expected in people who smoke, said study co-author Dr. Jacqueline Moline, director of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program Clinical Center.

"These tests confirm what we've seen clinically: People are sick, they're short of breath," Moline said. "They used to run miles a day, now they can barely run the length of a football field."

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The EPA 9/11 pollution controversy was the result of a report released by the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in August 2003 which claimed that the White House put pressure on the EPA to delete cautionary information about the air quality in New York City around Ground Zero following the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to the report: a September 18 EPA statement saying that the air was "safe"[1] was made without sufficient reliable data available; the White House Council on Environmental Quality influenced the EPA to make reassuring comments to the public; and on September 12 the EPA Administrator issued a memo saying that all statements to the media must be cleared by the National Security Council.

Numerous key differences between the draft versions and final versions of EPA statements were found. A recommendation that homes and businesses near ground zero be cleaned by professionals was replaced by a request that citizens follow orders from NYC officials. Another statement that showed concerns about "sensitive populations" was deleted altogether. Language used to describe excessive amounts of asbestos in the area was altered drastically to minimize the dangers it posed.

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Money isn’t everything for Scott Aline, a member of Operating Engineers Local 138 in New York, who spent months cleaning up the toxic remains of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

But it might have helped save his health and his house and prevent the pain he and his fiancé, Lee Abramowski, suffered when they had to give up their daughter for adoption because they couldn’t afford to care for her. After the terrorist attacks 50,000 workers, including police, fire fighters and construction men and women, were exposed to toxic fumes from the burning Trade Center. Today, these workers continue to fall ill from silicosis, bronchitis, pneumonia, lung cancer, cancerous polyps, leukemia, and post traumatic stress disorder.

Families are also devastated as many have been forced to retire on disability, many others have died and still others are dying now. Doctors have told Aline, who is 46, that he now has the lungs of a 70 year old man.

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A new bill has been introduced in Congress to deal with the health crisis that resulted from the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

As part of a continuing effort by Congressmember Carolyn Maloney, the new 9/11 Health and Compensation Act has bipartisan support and could also have the backing of President Barack Obama, who signaled his strong support for the 9/11 cleanup victims during his campaign last year.

Major support for the bill came last Thursday when Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan issued a report showing that more than 24 percent of 3,160 responders to the 9/11 attack and who are participating in a long-term health study continue to have abnormal lung function even seven years after the terrorist attack, according to Maloney and her colleague, Congressmember Jerrold Nadler (D- Manhattan).

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