CDC Plans $50 Million 9/11 Youth Health Study

Nearly 25 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, federal health officials are preparing the first major study focused specifically on children, young adults and people who were in utero and exposed to the World Trade Center disaster. About 25,000 children lived or attended school in lower Manhattan, with others in nearby Brooklyn, but earlier government research largely focused on adult survivors and first responders. The CDC and World Trade Center Health Program plan to establish a Youth Research Cohort to track potential long-term effects, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, reproductive problems and other illnesses, compared with similarly aged people who were not exposed. Eligible participants were 21 or younger—or in utero—and living in designated parts of Manhattan or Brooklyn after the attacks; officials are still recruiting participants and researchers, with the study expected to begin once the cohort is sufficiently large.