Home / Health / CDC Launches Study on 9/11 Exposed Children's Future Health
CDC Launches Study on 9/11 Exposed Children's Future Health
10 Sep
Summary
- Thousands of children exposed to toxic dust from 9/11 lack long-term health tracking.
- A new U.S. government study aims to track health issues in these now-adult children.
- Researchers seek to understand chronic illnesses like cancers and reproductive problems.
Thousands of children, some still in the womb, were living or attending school in lower Manhattan and surrounding areas during the September 11, 2001, attacks. They were exposed to a massive toxic cloud and dust from the collapsed World Trade Center towers. However, few were enrolled in government-funded health studies, which primarily focused on adult first responders. This oversight means there has been no tracking of chronic illnesses, including cancers and cardiovascular diseases, that may only now be emerging as these children reach their 30s and early 40s.
Recognizing this gap, Congress allocated funding in 2022 for a study under the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last month, the CDC announced it would seek applications from researchers to establish the World Trade Center Youth Research Coordinating Center and identify a Youth Research Cohort. Participants will have been 21 or younger, or in utero, and living below 14th Street in Manhattan or anywhere in Brooklyn on and after 9/11. A comparable group of unexposed individuals will also be recruited for comparison.
While adult survivors and first responders have shown dozens of cancer types and other health issues related to their exposure, data on childhood exposure effects is limited. Experts emphasize the need for community support to recruit participants, who are now spread across the United States. Studying the long-term consequences for these children could inform preventive measures for populations facing similar exposures, such as children in modern war zones.
