Health Effects of the World Trade Center Collapse

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Note: This information is provided for reference purposes only. Although the information provided here was accurate and current when first created, it is now outdated.

The World Trade Center collapse released a tremendous amount of dust, primarily over lower Manhattan. This dust was composed mainly of ground up construction materials, including concrete, glass, fiberglass and some asbestos. The subsequent fires, which burned for several months, generated smoke that caused short-term health effects such as eye, nose and throat irritations and coughing. The greatest amounts of airborne dust and smoke were present in the days immediately following 9/11 but these levels tapered off relatively quickly. Much of the dust that blanketed lower Manhattan was vacuumed and washed off the streets within weeks.

The discussion of health effects should be broken down in several ways: short-term and long-term health effects and their impacts on different groups; the rescue and recovery people working directly on the debris pile; sensitive groups having pre-existing health conditions; children, and people who are generally healthy.

Rescue & Recovery Workers
Sensitive Groups
Children
Short-term health effects
Long-term health effects

Rescue & Recovery Workers

From virtually the moment the World Trade Center collapsed, EPA consistently recommended that workers at the debris site wear protective gear including appropriate respirators. EPA and other federal agencies made thousands of respirators and other protective gear available to workers at the scene.

Sensitive Groups

The dust and smoke posed special and immediate concerns to people with impaired heart and/or lung functions. These groups were consistently urged to follow standard precautions - limiting exposure and avoiding exertion - and to consult their health care providers.

Children

Children breathe more air, pound for pound, than adults do, and their hand-to- mouth activity exposes them to more dust. For these reasons, EPA selected the most protective standards when testing for the presence of toxic contaminants in the outdoor air.

Short-term health effects

As a result of exposure to the dust and smoke, many people living and working in downtown Manhattan experienced short-term health effects. Generally, these effects included coughing and eye, nose and throat irritations. In some cases, people experienced an increase in asthma attacks and some health professionals have reported new cases of asthma in previously healthy people. These short-term health effects dissipated for most once the fires were put out. Some sensitive individuals continued to report irritation as pockets of dust became resuspended. Most healthy people will not suffer long-term consequences.

Long-term health effects

The greatest concern is the potential long-term health effects resulting from the release of a wide range of toxic contaminants. Since the first day, when EPA immediately began monitoring the smoke plume, the Agency has taken and analyzed nearly 20,000 samples of air, dust and water in lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey. All of this testing, as well as the sampling results from other federal, state and local agencies, shows that the risk for long-term health effects is very low. This is reinforced by independent assessments conducted by area doctors, researchers and health professionals.

The contaminant of principal long-term concern to the public is asbestos. The health effects of asbestos have been studied extensively for many years, and it is known that three main factors influence whether harmful health effects will occur. These factors are the dose - how much you are exposed to - and the duration - how long you are exposed. These two factors are multiplied - made worse - if you smoke.

Portions of the World Trade Center towers/complex contained asbestos. The use of asbestos insulation was prohibited in New York City while the World Trade Center towers were under construction, significantly reducing the amount of asbestos we must deal with today. As expected, the levels of asbestos found in World Trade Center dust were low and federal, state and city agencies, as well as many independent doctors and health experts agree that the risk for disease from asbestos exposure in the community near the World Trade Center site is very low.

To reduce any potential risks from exposure, EPA and other health agencies recommend that you continue to remove dust that has settled in your home by wet wiping and mopping hard surfaces and by using a HEPA-filter vacuum for fabrics, upholstery and carpets. HEPA vacuums have special filters designed to capture very small dust particles, including asbestos.

There have been many reports in the news media about other potentially hazardous contaminants related to the World Trade Center collapse and fires. Some of these - benzene for instance -were of concern to the on-site recovery workers. EPA monitored daily for benzene, actually inserting probes into the debris pile, to measure for releases that would put workers at risk. And, as mentioned above, EPA consistently urged workers to wear proper respirators.

EPA monitored throughout lower Manhattan for numerous contaminants including particulates, PCBs, dioxin, VOCs, lead and other metals. For most of these, levels rarely exceeded protective standards. When levels did exceed the standards, they generally occurred only briefly. Because these were short-term exposures and the standards they exceeded were for longer-term exposure - in other words, more protective - there is little concern about any long-term health effects from these contaminants.

For more information on EPA's response to the World Trade Center attacks, explore the rest of the "Response to 9-11" area or review monitoring data.