The Canary Report

Seven years after 9-11, breathing ailments persist

Posted on Sep 11, 2008 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Susie Collins

As the world waits — and waits — for the World Trade Center’s redevelopment project to rise from the gaping hole along Church Street, downtown residents and recovery workers continue to suffer from the illnesses related to the September 11th attacks. Sinus pressure, coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing are just a handful of symptoms afflicting thousands of those who lived and worked in lower Manhattan during and immediately after the tragedy — all are effects of the air’s contamination.

Years after the attacks, New Yorkers and out-of-state volunteers continue to emerge saying they suffer from a World Trade Center related illness. Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a campaign to seek out such victims — with advertisements soon to appear on subways and television screens across the city. The mayor and medical experts predicted thousands — maybe hundreds of thousands — of untreated responders, volunteers and residents could be eligible for medical care.

At least for now.

Though advocates say the city has adequately responded in the last year to the health effects of the World Trade Center attacks, its ability to treat victims is threatened. Calling federal support “inconsistent and episodic,” Bloomberg said the city needs to have a stable funding source from Washington if it is to continue providing medical care to 9-11 workers and residents.

As of now, the funding the city receives could be cut off in 2009 — eight years after the attacks. With little known of the long-term effects of air contamination downtown, a lack of funding, advocates and city officials say, can cripple the city’s ability to adequately address the health needs of victims in the future.

The Response and Results

A report released last week from the World Trade Center Working Group — an expert panel appointed by Bloomberg to monitor Sept. 11th health-related studies and issues — showed studies were consistent in finding the prevalence of elevated rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases among recovery workers and those who lived or worked downtown.

Link to Gotham Gazette.

For a look at the prevelence of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity among first responders and others affected at Ground Zero, visit the Chemical Sensitivity Foundation:

The primary goal of the Chemical Sensitivity Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, is to raise public awareness about multiple chemical sensitivity. To this end, we are now enabling visitors to this site to play a short documentary produced/directed by Alison Johnson that is titled Chemical Sensitivity: A 15-Minute Introduction. This DVD includes information about the development of multiple chemical sensitivity among veterans of the 1991 Gulf War and First Responders and others exposed to the World Trade Center toxins.

It’s a little dry in places but riveting if you’re interested in MCS. Here it is:

Tags: Air, Environment, Environmental Illness, Environmental Medicine, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Policy, Pollution, Toxic, Work