Evaluating Air Polluted From the World Trade Center Disaster

From ground-zero workers to residents of lower Manhattan, and from pregnant women who encountered the bad air and the children they later delivered, scientists continue to study the harmful effects of the polluted air produced by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001.

Chemists who have studied the situation reported at a recent conference that ground zero workers suffered the worst exposure by far. The smoke-polluted air included a never before seen compound that scientists have named 1,3-diphenyl propane. Unfortunately, many rescue and cleanup workers did not wear respirators, at least not initially. Even if they did, the equipment likely was not appropriate for the incredibly polluted air. The smoke plumes at the site burned for three months.

The good news, scientists say, is that the hot smoke from the plumes rose quickly and had little effect on nearby residents and workers. Air quality returned to normal fairly quickly and only occasionally did ash and soot levels intensify in lower Manhattan.

In other studies, researchers have looked at the effect on pregnant women who were in or near the towers when they collapsed. A researcher at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine says the women he studied delivered babies with slightly lower birth weights. Low birth weight babies are more likely to have hypertension as adults.

While the immediate consequences of the WTC polluted air is just beginning to be fully understood, there are still many unanswered questions about the long-term results for people who were exposed for an extended period of time.

Sources:

Smaller Babies Post WTC Attack? - CBS News.com

Exploiting 9/11 Babies - New York Post (Online Edition)

September 13, 2003