9/11's Lingering Health Effects

Respiratory Difficulties, Mental Distress Continue

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News

Sept. 9, 2004 -- Almost three years ago, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Along with those tragic losses came wide-ranging health problems for many survivors, say researchers.

At the time of the attacks, the main problems were "various injuries, respiratory conditions, and mental health effects," states a U.S. government report.

Shortly after the attacks, "the primary injuries were inhalation and musculoskeletal injuries," says the report, which comes from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress.

Workers cleaning up debris at the World Trade Center site reported few physical injuries that made them miss work. But respiratory problems were an issue, with reports of wheezing, shortness of breath, sinusitis, and asthma.

New Syndrome

In addition, a new syndrome, called "WTC cough," was seen. The condition consists of persistent cough with severe respiratory symptoms.

"Almost all the firefighters who responded to the attack experienced respiratory effects, and hundreds had to end their firefighting careers due to WTC-related respiratory illness," says the GAO report.

The problems likely stem from the dust, debris, smoke, and various chemicals released into New York's skies when the World Trade Centers collapsed. The site smoldered long after the initial attack, lacing the air with substances that could trouble breathing.

Mental Health Problems

"The most commonly reported mental health effects include symptoms associated with depression, stress, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder," says the GAO.

Posttraumatic stress disorder can arise after someone lives through or witnesses a traumatic event. Symptoms can include intrusive memories, distressing dreams, difficulty coping with daily life, and increased use of substances such as alcohol and tobacco.

Those mental health problems didn't just affect people who were near the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, or the Pennsylvania crash site.

"Unlike the physical health effects, the mental health effects were not limited to people in the WTC area but were also experienced nationwide," says the GAO.

Effects on Pregnant Women and Babies

Expectant mothers living or working near the World Trade Centers around the time of the attacks were also affected.

With colleagues, researcher Sally Ann Lederman, PhD, of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, studied 300 nonsmoking women in the New York metropolitan area who were pregnant around the time of the attacks.

About 44% of the women lived or worked within two miles of the World Trade Center site in the month after the attacks. Infants born to these mothers at the time of the attacks were smaller and weighed significantly less than infants born to other women.

Infants born to these mothers who were in their first three months of pregnancy during the attacks were born significantly earlier than infants whose mothers were at a later stage of pregnancy during the attacks.

The authors say the studies suggest that there may be health and developmental implications for children exposed to the World Trade Center attacks.

The study appears in the online edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

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