Illness from Toxic Air Plagues Thousands of Ground Zero Workers

CWA members who worked alongside police and firefighters in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack are among thousands of rescue and recovery workers who are suffering persistent respiratory and other health problems five years later, the Mount Sinai Medical Center reported this week.

The center coordinates the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program, which has seen nearly 12,000 people who worked or volunteered at or near Ground Zero, including hundreds of CWA-represented telecom workers, nurses, news crews from NABET-CWA and TNG-CWA and traffic enforcement officers.

About 60 percent of the workers screened are still suffering a variety of respiratory and pulmonary problems, including asthma, chronic sinus problems, bouts of pneumonia, vocal cord dysfunction and chronic coughing. Many workers are also suffering mental health problems.

Federal dollars covered comprehensive exams for the workers, but unions and other advocates had to battle to get funds, and fight even harder to get money just this year to offer treatment, said Micki Siegel de Hernandez, health and safety director for CWA District 1 and a member of the monitoring program's steering committee.

"We've been fighting since 9-11 for this program to exist, and for an expansion of it," Siegel de Hernandez said. "The funding has been piecemeal, when it should be in place for at least the next 30 years."

Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the Mount Sinai-based screening program, said there's no longer any room for argument about whether Ground Zero workers and volunteers are suffering. "Our patients are sick, and they will need ongoing care for the rest of their lives," she said, quoted in the New York Times.

According to media reports, some workers are permanently disabled as a result of long-term health problems following their exposure at Ground Zero, and many fear that cancer could be their next diagnosis. The Times reported that a coroner has linked one death, a 34-year-old police officer, to lung disease caused by Trade Center dust. At least six other families believe they lost loved ones to toxic exposure at the site.

The U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations is holding its fourth hearing in New York City this week on protecting public health since 9/11. Some lawmakers, notably Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, all New York Democrats, have helped force the Bush administration and Republican leaders in Congress to make funds available and address unmet health needs.

But the lack of federal money until now for treatment by specialists meant that many workers were being improperly diagnosed by their own doctors and prescribed medication that wasn't helping, Mount Sinai doctors said.

Help is available in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, as well as many other parts of the country, for anyone who worked or volunteered at Ground Zero and meets eligibility requirements. Anyone who hasn't been screened, or people who were screened but haven't had follow-up appointments, are urged to call the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program toll-free at (888) 702-0630, or go online to www.wtcexams.org. CWA District 1 Health and Safety Director Micki Siegel says members can also call her with questions or concerns at (212) 509-6994.