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Jeanne Mager Stellman Testifies Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Long-Term Health Impacts of September 11
On March 21, 2007 Jeanne Mager Stellman, PhD, professor of clinical Health Policy and Management, provided testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions at a hearing entitled “The Long-Term Health Impacts from September 11: A Review of Treatment, Diagnosis, and Monitoring Efforts.”
The 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center twin towers created an environmental disaster of unprecedented proportions. Some 40,000 men and women expended enormous effort in carrying out rescue, recovery, and cleanup operations. According to Dr. Stellman, the compounds and minerals that made up the WTC toxic plume included a host of known and suspected carcinogens like dioxin, asbestos, polycyclic aromatics, and benzene that have been the subject of much scientific inquiry and regulatory activity over the years. The health effects associated with these chemicals may cause immediate reactions or they may not manifest themselves for many years. “No one knows the full and ultimate effects of exposure to a mixture like this, especially under the arduous conditions of rescue, recovery, and cleanup,” said Dr. Stellman. “Rescue workers are potentially at risk for cancer and chronic diseases.”
In addition to serious upper airway and throat problems, as well as gastrointestinal reflux caused by the toxic dust, the traumatic early post-attack days and the arduous and stressful working conditions that followed were an excellent breeding ground for a variety of stress-related psychological problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, panic disorder, generalized anxiety, and other manifestations of a substantial stress response. These disorders can affect not only the workers themselves, but also their spouses, children, and other loved ones.
Said Dr. Stellman, “From both a scientific and a health policy perspective, the monitoring and treatment program must not be abandoned.” According to Dr. Stellman’s testimony, the program provides a unique opportunity for systematic health appraisal, needed follow-up, and for meaningful epidemiological research. Without the program, responders will most likely not be adequately treated for WTC-related maladies because most physicians have little or no formal training in environmental and occupational medicine and are ill equipped to take an adequate exposure history. Early interventions may never be discovered or implemented if physicians and researchers cannot monitor health patterns in the group. In addition, many responders may not have the financial means to seek and pay for needed examinations and treatments, especially as they age and are more likely to develop chronic diseases. The social stigma, particularly for psychological disorders, may make responders reluctant to seek help once they are no longer part of a group process and outreach informational activities cease.
In closing, Dr. Stellman stated that “we have a limited ability to learn from this unique and tragic event and to put into place public health policies and practices that will lessen the impact of future natural or technological disasters.”
Please click here for Dr. Stellman’s complete testimony.
Dr. Stellman and Mayor Bloomberg
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