The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on New York City’s World Trade Center 

resulted in intense fires, and the subsequent collapse of the structures released 

tons of dust on lower Manhattan. The dust cloud contained a wide range of 

toxins and irritant agents with the potential to result in significant human and 

environmental health impacts.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) responded 

immediately. NIEHS Worker Education and Training Program (WETP) staff 

delivered 3,000 respirators to the site and provided expert support to coordinate 

occupational health issues during the recovery and cleanup processes. NIEHSsupported researchers were on-site collecting environmental and air samples shortly 

after the disaster. NIEHS responded by providing funds to support these efforts. 

Early in 2002, Congress appropriated $10.5 million to NIEHS for worker training 

and research support. 

The Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) made $4.5 million in grant 

awards to university researchers in support of an integrated research approach that 

provides a framework to address current and future health and environmental 

matters arising from the WTC attacks. The Worker Education and Training 

Program made $6 million in grant awards with the goal of training new and 

current hazardous material teams for the New York City Fire Department, 

environmental remediation workers, site cleanup workers and hazardous material 

teams in response to weapons of mass destruction. 

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 

WORLD TRADE CENTER RESPONSE
RESEARCHResearch grants were awarded to four NIEHS Environmental Health Science Centers and two Superfund Basic Research 

Program grantees. The research is focused along two major themes – analysis of exposure/risk and assessment of human health 

impacts resulting from the WTC disaster. The grantees receiving these funds understand that the research they are conducting 

is for the benefit of society, rather than to benefit their own research programs. As such, there has been a great spirit of 

coordination and collaboration among the investigators. The benefits of these efforts are summarized below.

• In the days immediately following the WTC disaster, scientists from the University of Medicine and 

Dentistry of New Jersey and the New York University School of Medicine collected air and dust samples. 

They conducted microscopic evaluations to determine the composition and structure of the dust particles; 

chemical analyses to examine dust characteristics and identify dust constituents. Detailed particle size 

analyses were conducted to determine what would be trapped in the nose/throat, deposited in the lungs’ 

upper airways, or breathed into the deepest regions of the lungs. Analyses of WTC dust samples provide 

valuable information on the initial composition and the immediate human health and ecosystem health 

concerns, and are critical to our understanding of on-going and future health impacts. 

• Investigators from Johns Hopkins and Columbia have taken the lead in creating a public database that 

includes pre- and post-September 11 ambient air data collected by the USEPA, exposure data collected 

from other federal sources, and exposure data collected by NIEHS-supported WTC investigators. This 

project will be the first user-friendly relational database constructed, which is a comprehensive compilation 

of collected exposure data, that will be available to the general public.

• Investigators at New York University School of Medicine, Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth 

Observatory, the University of Rochester, and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine are conducting clinical 

and epidemiology studies with WTC-exposed populations such as New York City firefighters, ironworkers 

and community residents to investigate respiratory abnormalities and Post-Traumatic Stress. 

Researchers identified the “World Trade Center Cough”, its associated symptoms and duration of the 

condition. They conducted analyses of samples of WTC dust and determined a clear relationship between 

the physical and chemical characteristics of the dust and the commonly observed symptoms. They found 

that less than 95% of the particles were large enough that they would not penetrate deep into the lungs; 

they also noted that the dust was very caustic. These characteristics explain many of the WTC Cough 

symptoms – severe persistent cough and airway reactivity.

• Researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Columbia University are conducting 

epidemiological studies to evaluate acute/cumulative air pollutant exposures on pregnancy outcomes, and 

relationships to fetal/child development. The researchers will evaluate birth outcomes and will conduct 

follow-on studies of the impact of prenatal hazardous exposures released during the WTC event on the 

longer-term health and well-being of infants who were exposed in utero. 

In addition, each of the grantees has been involved in town meetings in New York City and surrounding areas. These forums 

let the public know in a timely manner what results have been obtained and what studies are being conducted, in addition to 

giving the public a voice by encouraging them to ask questions and express their concerns.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences | World Trade Center RESEARCH
World Trade Center | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Since September 11, 2001, our nation has been forced to take a closer look at how agencies respond to federal disasters, how to 

protect the health and safety of the workers and volunteers who do respond to these emergencies, and how to better prepare our 

nation in the event of future disasters. The NIEHS WETP and its cooperative agreement awardees have responded to these 

challenges, providing environmental training resources and expertise on the front lines of the country’s disaster response. These 

experts were able to quickly mobilize sustained resources to provide information, equipment and training resources to high-risk 

worker populations engaged in WMD response. Training courses and curricula include classroom, hands-on and on-line health 

and safety training for workers, supervisors and professionals focused on hazardous waste operations and emergency response. 

For example:

• Among the 11,336 firefighters employed by the New York City Fire Department, 343 died at the WTC. 

All of the HazMat Specialists and most of the Department’s hazardous materials response personnel 

were among the victims, including the command structure. Since September 2001, NIEHS support has 

enabled the International Association of Fire Fighters to retrain almost the entire cadre of skilled HazMat 

technicians, and to reestablish the hazardous materials management capability of the New York City Fire 

Department.

• The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights and International Union of Operating Engineers collaborated to 

develop a worker training program that includes a three-hour WTC site safety and health orientation and 

a train-the-trainer program. The program has been used by 55 unions, employers, and governmental 

representatives to train approximately 1,300 construction workers at Ground Zero, including most of the 

building and construction trade workers who worked from mid-September, 2001 through June, 2002. 

• Laborers-AGC (L-AGC ) conducted anthrax remediation training for environmental laborers in New York 

City and New Jersey. Short modules were immediately created to provide training for the L-AGC who 

were actively involved in the anthrax remediation at the U.S. Postal facilities in Washington, DC and New 

Jersey, as well as the NBC building in New York City. The L-AGC is translating the anthrax worker course 

into Spanish and Polish, and is developing two new course modules on other WMD to begin the process 

of creating a comprehensive Chemical/Biological Agent Remediation Worker course. 

• L-AGC developed and provided special Hazardous Waste/Anthrax response training to several law 

enforcement agencies. In December 2001, L-AGC provided two 50-hour HW Operations/Anthrax 

Awareness courses to the DC Metropolitan Police SWAT teams. In January 2002, a similar course was 

provided to a group of US Marshals who are tasked with protecting various judicial buildings and personnel 

throughout the United States. The U.S. Marshals have had approximately 150 more marshals take this 

specialized HW Worker course. Requests for training are also in process from the Capitol Police, the US 

National Park Service Park Police and the FBI.

The NIEHS response to the WTC disaster brought appropriate scientific expertise and environmental health resources to bear 

on a situation fraught with potential environmental peril. These efforts demonstrated that minimization of injuries and further 

loss of life through public health prevention are critical tools to assure that our nation does not experience secondary disasters 

and other potential collateral damage. 

WORKER TRAINING
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences | World Trade Center

U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f H e a l t h a n d H u m a n S e r v i c e s | N a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e s o f H e a l t h | N a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e o f E n v i r o n m e n t a l H e a l t h S c i e n c e s

NIEHS grantees are supporting efforts to address immediate and long-term worker and community health issues arising from the World 

Trade Center attacks. The information below identifies the grantees engaged in this endeavor and outlines their on-going projects:

Columbia University

• Chemical assessment of WTC 

emissions—air and sediments

• Pollution database development

• Prospective study of pregnant women 

and infants exposed in utero to WTC 

air pollution

• Public dissemination of information

Johns Hopkins University

• Health assessment and monitoring of 

truckers, heavy equipment operators and 

laborers

• Long-term effects of clean up at the

WTC site

Mount Sinai School of Medicine

• Studies of WTC ironworkers for 

respiratory abnormalities

• Study of pregnant women and children 

near WTC

• Remote sensing imagery of the dust 

plume combined with ground 

measurements

• Outreach to children and families

• Analysis of organochlorines in NY and 

Hudson River

New York University (NYU)

• Assessment of heart and lung effects of 

NYC firefighters

• Checking of Lower Manhattan residents’ 

respiratory (lung) health

• Collection and analysis of indoor and 

outdoor settled dust samples

• Analyses of the characteristics of particle 

air pollution in Lower Manhattan during 

September thru December 2001

• Toxicity tests of WTC dust

• Conducting community forums to inform 

the public of the latest scientific progress 

and plans

University of Medicine and Dentistry of 

New Jersey (Rutgers)

• Comparison of perceived (expected) vs. 

actual risks

• Study of possible psychological effects 

(e.g. stress) of WTC disaster

• Analysis of indoor settled dust/smoke 

samples

• Develop mathematical tools for assessing 

contaminant release on air quality

• Study time trends for adverse 

reproductive outcomes

• Assessment of NJ, NY and CT 

department of health personnel’s 

environmental public health capacity

• Implementation of community forums for 

New Jersey commuters

• Development of case study for students 

to study WTC dust and possibly related 

“WTC cough”

• Development of website featuring WTC 

environmental health research and 

information

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

• Community air quality exposures

• Modeling using geographic information 

systems (GIS)

University of Rochester (Collaborating 

with NYU)

• Assessment of very small (ultrafine) 

WTC dust

• Community Outreach

RESEARCH

Center to Protect Workers’ Rights

• Development/delivery of a 3-hour WTC 

site safety and health orientation training 

program

• Development/delivery of a train-thetrainer program 

International Association of Fire 

Fighters

• Direct delivery of classes to rebuild the 

HazMat instructor losses to the Fire 

Department of New York (FDNY)

International Union of Operating 

Engineers

• Development/delivery of training to 

prepare skilled support personnel and 

skilled construction personnel for 

response at mass destruction sites 

• Development of lessons learned report 

on distribution/fit testing of protective 

equipment at the WTC site

• Development of training programs for 

emergency response and remediation of 

biochemical agents

Laborers-AGC Education and Training 

Fund

• Development/delivery of training for nonEnglish speaking workers in NY and NJ 

involved in anthrax remediation sites

National Puerto Rican Forum, Inc.

• Development/delivery of weapons of 

mass destruction training for the HazMat 

workforce

University of Medicine and Dentistry of 

New Jersey

• Development/delivery of hazardous 

material technician training for Transit 

Union workers

• Development/delivery of health and 

safety training for WTC site clean up

• Development/delivery for police and 

hospital workers in emergency response 

to weapons of mass destruction

• Development and delivery of fact sheets 

and links to additional information 

including the following topics: asbestos, 

compensation, government resources, 

news, occupational safety and health 

resources, and psychological trauma

WORKER TRAINING