Impact of September 11 attacks on workers in the vicinity of the World Trade Center--New York City.

In January 2002, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health received requests for Health Hazard Evaluations from labor unions representing workers employed in buildings in the vicinity of the World Trade Center (WTC). Workers reported persistent physical and mental health symptoms that they associated with exposures from the WTC collapse and ensuing fires. To address these concerns, CDC conducted surveys of workers at four workplaces in New York City (NYC), a high school (high school A) and college (college A) near the WTC site, and a high school (comparison high school B) and college (comparison college B) > or = 5 miles from the WTC site to determine rates of physical and mental health symptoms. This report summarizes the preliminary results of the employee surveys, which indicated that workers employed near the WTC site had significantly higher rates of physical and mental health symptoms than workers employed > or = 5 miles from the site. Intervention programs should be tailored to address the needs of these workers, and the effectiveness of these programs should be evaluated. Further assessment is warranted to describe the nature and extent of illness in specific working groups and individual medical follow-up in those with persistent symptoms.