9/11 DUST CLOUD MAY HAVE CAUSED WIDESPREAD PREGNANCY ISSUES
Pregnant women living
near the World Trade Center during 9/11 experienced higher-than-normal negative
birth outcomes, according to a new working paper by Princeton University's
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
These
mothers were more likely to give birth prematurely and deliver babies with low
birth weights. Their babies -- especially baby boys -- were also more likely to
be admitted to neonatal intensive care units after birth. The study, led by the
Wilson School's Janet Currie and Hannes Schwandt, was released by the National
Bureau of Labor Economics in August.
"Previous
research into the health impacts of in utero exposure to the 9/11 dust cloud on
birth outcomes has shown little evidence of consistent effects. This is a
puzzle given that 9/11 was one of the worst environmental catastrophes to have
ever befallen New York City," said Currie, Henry Putnam Professor of
Economics and Public Affairs, director of the economics department and director
of the Wilson School's Center for Health and Wellbeing. "Our work suggests
a simple resolution of this puzzle, which is that the women who lived in
neighborhoods exposed to the 9/11 dust cloud had very different experiences
than women in other parts of New York City."
The
collapse of the two towers created a zone of negative air pressure that pushed
dust and smoke into the avenues surrounding the World Trade Center site. Other
past studies have shown that environmental exposure to the World Trade Center
dust cloud was associated with significant adverse effects on the health of
adult community residents and emergency workers.
Using
data on all births that were in utero on Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City and
comparing those babies to their siblings, the researchers found that, for
mothers in their first trimester during 9/11, exposure to this catastrophe more
than doubled their chances of delivering a baby prematurely. Of the babies
born, boys were more likely to have birth complications and very low birth
weights. They were also more likely to be admitted to the NICU.
The
neighborhoods most affected by the 9/11 dust cloud included Lower Manhattan,
Battery Park City, SoHo, TriBeCa, Civic Center, Little Italy, Chinatown and the
Lower East Side. Previous studies analyzing the aftermath of 9/11 on health
failed to account for many women living in Lower Manhattan, who were generally
less likely to have poor birth outcomes than women living in other
neighborhoods.
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