A study finds that World Trade Center escapees are suffering from serious health problems. But it isn't just the escapees -- what about others in the New York area that were told by the EPA that the air was safe, that schools and businesses could be re-opened? And what about the thousands of Wall Street workers that were told to go back to work? The EPA was also negligent in cleaning up neighborhoods, such as in Brooklyn. So will there also be a study of the health of residents who were in the vicinity of the Trade Center collapse, and worked in the area a mere week later? Who in the Bush Administration told Christie Todd Whitman and the EPA to issue false statements to reassure New Yorkers about the fall-out? What will the class action suit reveal about this criminal breach of the public trust by Bush's EPA?

Study: 9/11 Escapees Have Health Problems

(AP) A majority of survivors of the 2001 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center suffered from respiratory ailments and depression, anxiety and other psychological problems up to three years later, federal health officials said Friday.

The people who escaped from collapsed or damaged buildings on Sept. 11, 2001, were several times as likely to suffer from breathing problems or psychological trauma if they were caught in the cloud of trade center dust and debris that covered lower Manhattan, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

[...]

Friday's study drew from preliminary interviews with 8,418 adults in the registry who escaped from the twin towers, the collapsed Seven World Trade Center and more than 30 buildings that suffered extensive damage on Sept. 11. More than 70 percent escaped from the twin towers.

The interviews took place more than two years after the attacks, between Sept. 5, 2003, and Nov. 20, 2004, and did not involve medical examinations. Follow-up surveys are planned this month.

"We are just beginning to learn about the health effects of the worst day in New York City's history," said Daniel Slippen, a survivor of the attacks and a member of the registry's community advisory board. "It is critical to know whether these physical and mental effects will continue, diminish or grow worse over time."

City officials in charge of the registry say it will likely take 20 years or more to determine whether 9/11 exposure led to increased cancer deaths or illnesses among survivors.

The study said more than six in 10 were caught in the clouds of trade center dust that enveloped the area. Those people were nearly three times as likely to have respiratory problems, 40 percent more likely to experience severe psychological problems and five times more likely to report suffering a stroke, Brackbill said.