Office workers, nearby residents, and emergency service and recovery workers experiencing significant exposures after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center are reporting a high incidence of new asthma diagnoses 5-6 years after the attack according to today’s issue of JAMA.

According to the article which defines the exposures as rescue/recovery workers, lower Manhattan residents, lower Manhattan office workers, and passersby, more than 10% of patients who did not have asthma prior to the event have been diagnosed with asthma 6 years out. Rescue/ recovery workers working on the pile had the highest rates of asthma, with those starting work later having lower rates. Similarly, residents, especially those with home damage, had higher rates of asthma compared to the passerby group. Intense dust cloud exposure was also associated with increased rates of asthma diagnosis. The authors concluded that there is a great “need for surveillance, outreach, treatment, and evaluation of efforts for many years following a disaster to prevent and mitigate health consequences.”

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