September 11, 2004

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  WTC Rescue Workers' Health Suffering, Government Says

  
  

   

  
  

  Thu Sep 9, 2004 04:29 PM ET

  
  

  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly half of the more than 1,000 screened rescue workers who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks suffer from new or exacerbated respiratory, mental and other health problems, according to a CDC report released on Thursday.

  
  

  A similar study from the GAO noted that many rescue workers suffer wheezing, shortness of breath, sinusitis, asthma and a syndrome called "WTC cough."  

  
  

  Nearly half of the 1,138 people screened had problems that either began or worsened after being exposed to the dust, airborne toxins and pollutants unleashed by the collapsed buildings.

  
  

  The CDC said that only 21% of the workers and volunteers participating in the screening program had appropriate respiratory protection between Sept. 11 and Sept. 14, 2001, the days when the impact of dust, diesel exhaust, pulverized cement, glass fibers and asbestos was considered the greatest.

  
  

   

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