Exposures among Pregnant Women near the World Trade Center Site on 11 September 2001 Mary S. Wolff,1 Susan L. Teitelbaum,1 Paul J. Lioy,2 Regina M. Santella,3 Richard Y. Wang,4 Robert L. Jones,4 Kathleen L. Caldwell,4 Andreas Sjödin,4 Wayman E. Turner,4 Wei Li,2 Panos Georgopoulos,2 and Gertrud S. Berkowitz1 1Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; 2Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; 3Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA; 4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Abstract We have characterized environmental exposures among 187 women who were pregnant, were at or near the World Trade Center (WTC) on or soon after 11 September 2001, and are enrolled in a prospective cohort study of health effects. Exposures were assessed by estimating time spent in five zones around the WTC and by developing an exposure index (EI) based on plume reconstruction modeling. The daily reconstructed dust levels were correlated with levels of particulate matter ≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5 ; r = 0.68) or PM10 (r = 0.73-0.93) reported from 26 September through 8 October 2001 at four of six sites near the WTC whose data we examined. Biomarkers were measured in a subset. Most (71%) of these women were located within eight blocks of the WTC at 0900 hr on 11 September, and 12 women were in one of the two WTC towers. Daily EIs were determined to be highest immediately after 11 September and became much lower but remained highly variable over the next 4 weeks. The weekly summary EI was associated strongly with women's perception of air quality from week 2 to week 4 after the collapse (p < 0.0001) . The highest levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-deoxyribonucleic acid (PAH-DNA) adducts were seen among women whose blood was collected sooner after 11 September, but levels showed no significant associations with EI or other potential WTC exposure sources. Lead and cobalt in urine were weakly correlated with SIMGACEI, but not among samples collected closest to 11 September. Plasma OC levels were low. The median polychlorinated biphenyl level (sum of congeners 118, 138, 153, 180) was 84 ng/g lipid and had a nonsignificant positive association with SIMGACEI (p > 0.05) . 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-Heptachlorodibenzodioxin levels (median, 30 pg/g lipid) were similar to levels reported in WTC-exposed firefighters but were not associated with EI. This report indicates intense bystander exposure after the WTC collapse and provides information about nonoccupational exposures among a vulnerable population of pregnant women. Key words: dust, exposure index, metal, PAH, particulate, PBDE, PCB, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, pregnant, WTC, WTC plume. Environ Health Perspect 113:739-748 (2005) . doi:10.1289/ehp.7694 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 10 February 2005] Address correspondence to M.S. Wolff, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Box 1057, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029 USA. Telephone: (212) 241-6173. Fax: (212) 996-0407. E-mail: mary.wolff@mssm.edu. We thank L.L. Needham, R. Callan, Z. Liu, J. Golub, K. Nichols, K. Yamada, L. Spellman, R. Osborne, C. Dodson, and P.B. Olive for their generous and valuable contributions to this study. This research was supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) grants P42ES07384 and P30ES09089 and by the September 11th Fund created by the New York Community Trust and United Way of New York City. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided support for laboratory measurements of metals, organochlorines, and polybrominated diphenylethers. Support from the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute for the exposure characterization was derived from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency University Partnership (CR827033) and an NIEHS Center Grant supplement (ES05022-1551) . The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 25 October 2004 ; accepted 27 January 2005. Correction The values listed in "Materials and Methods" for the sample (165 women, 33 of whom were in the third trimester) were incorrect in the online version. Also, in Table 3, the values in the "Total" row appeared under the wrong columns. These have all been corrected here. The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |