Results of the study, conducted by a consortium of researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Columbia University, New York University, Johns Hopkins University, The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, show exposure-related increases in new-onset cough, wheeze, shortness of breath, and bronchial hyperreactivity more than 2 years after the disaster.
In addition, follow-up of pregnant women who were inside or near the WTC buildings on September 11 found a two-fold increase in the incidence of small for gestational age (SGA) infants. The study results will appear in the May issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, the monthly peer-reviewed journal of the NIEHS. An electronic copy of the report is available on the online section at http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and grants from The New York Community Trust and United Way of New York City. Additional support was provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Our results indicate that the environmental exposures following the WTC disaster were associated with profound adverse effects on respiratory health," said Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, chair of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine and director of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at Mount Sinai, and principal author of the s
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Contact: John Peterson
919-541-7860
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
3-May-2004