Queens College gets $1.1M to monitor WTC workers

A major expansion of the Queens College medical monitoring program for emergency responders and recovery workers at the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster site has been made possible by a $1.1 million award from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The program known as the Queens World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program is being conducted by The Center for the Biology of Natural Systems (CBNS) at Queens College.
&#8220This new grant allows us to move beyond simply documenting WTC-related illnesses to offering concrete medical assistance to people in need,” Dr. Steven Markowitz, MD, Director of CBNS said. The center's clinical facility, located at 163-03 Horace Harding Expressway in Flushing, will now offer diagnosis, evaluation, treatment and referrals of WTC-related health conditions.
WTC-related health conditions are strictly defined conditions that have been identified and accepted as being caused by working on site at the WTC following the September 11, 2001 collapse of the twin towers. These include certain pulmonary and gastro-intestinal related conditions such as chronic sinusitis, asthma, gastro reflux disease and other conditions related to breathing in or swallowing the dense and highly alkaline concrete dust at the site.
Eleven hundred people are currently enrolled in center's monitoring program and they will form the basis of the clients for the expanded service. However, the program is still open to anyone who worked on site, and is suffering from the defined conditions. There is no cost for treatments. Funding is guaranteed for monitoring to continue through May 2009, although funding for the expanded program is only guaranteed through May 2007.
CBNS is one of a consortium of five clinics in the New York/New Jersey area engaged in monitory, evaluating and treating WTC workers. The grant is part of a series of NIOSH grants totaling $40 million for this purpose. Other recipients include the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) which is monitoring FDNY workers independently. Over 33,000 workers are currently being monitored, &#8220But new people are still responding with symptoms,” Lauri Boni of CBNS said.
For more information, call Lauri Boni at CBNS, Queens College, 718-670-4191.