http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/22/study-911-wtc-dust-sickened-residents-years-later/

A study blames long-term sickness on 9/11 dust from the World Trade Center. These shoes were found nearby days after 9/11.
May 22nd, 2012
11:30 AM ET
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Study: 9/11 WTC dust sickened residents years later
Several years after dust from the World Trade Center twin towers found its way into thousands of homes and nearly every crevice in lower Manhattan, area residents still suffered health problems, according to a new study.

People living in homes damaged after 2001's Trade Center attacks were more likely to report respiratory illness or disease years later, when compared with people whose homes were not damaged, according to a recent analysis of World Trade Center Health Registry data.

"This study highlights the magnitude of the 9/11 attacks by showing that people exposed to dust in their homes continued to have respiratory problems even five to six years after the fact," said study author Dr. Vinicius Antao, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, in a press release.

Breathing problems most often reported by residents post-9/11 included upper respiratory problems such as shortness of breath, wheezing and chronic cough. Less frequently, residents reported asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which can cause progressive deterioration of lung function.

About 41% of residents surveyed say they had either "some" or "intense" exposure to the 9/11 dust cloud, according to the study abstract, which will be presented Wednesday at the American Thoracic Society annual meeting.

"The folks who had higher exposures certainly would be more likely to develop disease," said Dr. Jacqueline Moline, director of the Queens World Trade Center Clinical Center of Excellence. "It's also noteworthy that 59% were not in the dust cloud. So you didn't have to be in the dust cloud for there to be these problems."

Among the 6,463 residents included in the study, more than half reported upper respiratory problems. About 16% had shortness of breath; 11% reported wheezing; and 8% had asthma symptoms that either developed or got worse after exposure to dust.