Trade Center Debris May Have Affected Pregnancies
By Christine Haughney
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 6, 2003; Page A03
NEW YORK, Aug. 5 -- Debris released when the World Trade Center towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, may have caused pregnant women who were in or near the towers to bear smaller babies, a preliminary study says.
Among 182 pregnant women who were in or near the trade center that day or in the three weeks following, 8.2 percent delivered babies showing signs of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), which has been associated with exposure to tobacco smoke or air pollution. During the same time, only 3.8 percent of 2,367 babies delivered at Mount Sinai Medical Center in uptown Manhattan showed signs of IUGR. All the babies were born at weights in the lowest 10 percent for the time they spent in the womb.
"Women who were in the World Trade Center or immediately after were twice as likely to deliver babies who were small for gestational age compared to women who were uptown during the same time frame," said Philip J. Landrigan, an author of the study published in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Doctors had set out to find what effect the toxic smoke released by the World Trade Center's collapse and its ensuing fires had on pregnant women. In comparing the babies born to women near Ground Zero and women farther away, they found only one major difference, which was the incidence of IUGR, the study said.
"We think it's probably the combination of exposure to dust and soot," Landrigan said. "When you think about it, it's like the same components of cigarette smoke."
Researchers now plan to map where these women were during and after terrorists crashed two hijacked jetliners into the towers, in an effort to determine whether those in the areas with heaviest concentrations of debris were more likely to have babies smaller for their gestational age. A dozen women in the survey were in the towers when the planes hit.
Doctors also plan to monitor the development of the babies of the women who were exposed to trade center debris, with regular checkups of their intelligence, reflexes and behavior. Those babies now are 14 months to nearly 2 years old.
"The babies that I've seen mostly look good. But obviously it's important to continue to follow them," Landrigan said. "The human fetus is delicate. But it's also resilient."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
washingtonpost.com |
