Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
9/11 Health Study May Be Flawed
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Sep 7, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Sep 7, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The relatively small health clinic that released the most widely quoted and alarming study about the adverse health impacts of exposure to the World Trade Center environment may have reached its conclusions with weak data and presented its findings in a questionable manner. The New York Times examined the work done at the Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a health clinic associated with Mount Sinai Medical Center and that included only six full-time doctors at the time of the terrorist attacks.
The Selikoff Center faced a difficult situation following the attacks. It was functioning primarily as a source of care for workers with conditions like repetitive motion stress injuries before 2001 and had strong ties to labor unions. After the attacks, the Selikoff Center began treating thousands of Ground Zero workers for exposure to possibly toxic dust, with only irregular funding from the federal government and no mandate to conduct a clinical study of their conditions. Now critics are saying that the center crossed the line from observation to advocacy by collecting inconclusive data and reporting it in a misleading manner.
“We were told very unequivocally that we were not being funded to do research,” recalled Dr. Herbert, who has been a part of the of the screening program since its inception. “We were being funded to do screening.”
Without money or time to plan, they started collecting data anyway, knowing that it would be necessary to track the rise of symptoms related to dust exposure. But the medical history questionnaire they pulled together was an unwieldy 74 pages long, full of questions that were too vague to be useful. When combined with X-rays and breathing tests, the examination process took more than three hours and scared off many workers. Some of the data was collected on paper and stored in boxes.
“It took me three months just to figure out where the information was and how it had been kept,” said Dr. Jeanne Mager Stellman, a medical researcher who was hired as deputy director of the data center in April 2006. “I don’t think they knew what they were getting into.”
The Selikoff Center released a study in 2005 using its data that has been criticised for being unnecessarily alarming. The study [pdf format] reported that 69% of participating Ground Zero workers were experiencing new or worsened respiratory symptoms, but came to that finding by combining two categories of health conditions: significant health problems and minor upper respiratory problems like a runny nose or itchy eyes. The latter category was much larger than the significant health problems category.
The Times reports that critics of the Selikoff Center and its report say that the clinic is causing distress to many Ground Zero workers, who are opting out of proven medical treatments in favor of alternative therapies. Statements about the likelihood of the future threat of cancer have also been criticized as baseless at this time and alarmist. The Selikoff Center still retains the support of labor unions that feel the clinic is doing good work and has a good rapport with first responders who go to Mount Sinai for treatment.
Tagged
environment
government
ground zero
health
history
labor
medical center
money
mount sinai
new york
new york times
News: NYC
Sinai Medical Center
terrorist
the future
The New York
the new york times
the times
Trade Center
world trade center
Dave Hogarty
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Police identify 2 men wanted for stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer
D’Angelo Caraballo and Sneider Mejia are wanted on several charges, including attempted murder.
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 6, 2026 at 11:05 a.m. ET
NYC’s autumn foliage will be a fall feast this year
A rainy fall will intensify autumn foliage colors, making them last longer, too.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
NYC’s autumn foliage will be a fall feast this year
A rainy fall will intensify autumn foliage colors, making them last longer, too.
By
Rosemary Misdary
NY officials worry migrants will skip healthcare amid fed policy change
By
Caroline Lewis
Early Addition: Spy magazine is doing a Substack pop-up
By
James Ramsay
Bronx woman found dead and infant in critical condition after balcony push, NYPD says
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .