Panel agenda for Air Quality After 9/11 conference, March 2004

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

products of combustion, volatile organic compounds, acid mists, heavy metals, soot, fibrous

glass, asbestos, silica, gypsum, pulverized concrete and pulverized glass. In a January 2002

article, “Health Issues Around file World Trade Center Disaster” the Mount Sinai School of

Medicine identified the population potentially exposed to danger as: “1. People who worked primarily at Ground Zero, either during or after the disaster including New York Firefighters and firefighters from outside New York City, police officers from New York City and surroimding communities, emergency rescue workers from a variety of organizations (including emergency medical technicians and paramedics), building trades workers, members of the press/news media, health care workers, food service workers, structural and other engineers and a variety of other public and private sector workers; 2. People who worked in the immediate vicinity of Ground Zero restoring essential services such as telephone service, electricity, and transportation, or performing services vital to reopening buildings in the area, including cleaning and assessing the structural integrity of buildings; 3. People who had worked in the WTC vicinity prior to the disaster and who sustained exposures either on September 11“ or upon their return to work in the area around the WTC. These include such disparate groups as financial sector workers, staff (and students) from surrounding schools and universities, retail workers, garment workers, municipal and state employees from a variety of agencies, health care workers and others; and. 4. Residents of the surrounding communities.”

On October 28,2003, Doctor Robin Herbert of Mount Sinai, testifying before the congressional

Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, quantified

the affected population as follows:

“Ultimately, an estimated 40,000 workers and volunteers were involved in rescue, recovery, and restoration of essential services at the site; an estimated 10,000 workers were evacuated from the towers or the immediate vicinity on September 11*; approximately 100,000 workers worked in the vicinity of the attacks; and approximately 25,000 people lived in the immediate area of the attacks. Unfortunately, many of them have developed serious, persistent health problems as a result of the attacks.”

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