USA: Massive asthma rate in Ground Zero rescuers

In September TUC Risks reported that a new health peril is hitting the estimated 40,000 rescue and recovery workers who dug through the deadly rubble and toxic debris at Ground Zero of New York's World Trade Center.

A survey has found they are developing asthma at 12 times the normal rate for adults. The study, from the New York City Health Department, shows 3.6 per cent of Ground Zero workers report they have developed asthma after working at the site following the 11 September 2001 attacks.

The study was based on the responses collected by the World Trade Center Health Registry. Some 25,000 of the estimated 40,000 rescue workers have registered with the group. The study found that workers who arrived at the disaster site on the day of the attack and stayed more than 90 days reported the highest rate of new asthma - 7 per cent. Firefighters accounted for roughly 14 per cent of the reported cases.

Thomas Frieden, New York City's health commissioner, commented: 'The dust from the World Trade Center collapse appears to have had significant respiratory health effects at least for people who worked at the site.' Last autumn, a study by Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City found that 70 per cent of the Ground Zero workers suffered lung ailments and other problems from their exposure to 'a complex list of toxic chemicals' from asbestos to jet fuel to PCBs