On September 11, 2001, time stood still when suicide hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 11 and, only seven minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers, killing almost 3,000 people and injuring many others.

Wednesday, only one day before the 2008 commemoration of the dreadful collapse of the World Trade Center, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released a study showing that people who were near the WTC when the tragedy took place have been two times more likely to develop asthma than the rest of the population.

Results revealed that 3% of adult residents and workers who were in the area seven years ago on the morning of September 11 have been diagnosed with the chronic disease, which is twice the rate registered for the general population. Moreover, it has been estimated that a number ranging from 3,800 to 12,600 people exposed to the collapse site have developed asthma and that other 35,000 to 70,000 adults have suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Of these, women, members of minorities and people with low-incomes are the most prone to both mental and physical issues.

Department of Health and Mental Hygiene researchers gathered their data via telephone interviews.

On a related topic, the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board has informed that 31,543 workers and volunteers who offered to perform rescue or cleanup work at the WTC site had filed notices in order to preserve their right to further file for workers’ compensation claims, in case they developed a disease as an aftermath to their work.