Environmental and Natural Resources Regulation/Homeland Security: NIOSH Issues Report on Link Between September 11 World Trade Center Attacks and Cancer

On July 26, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a component of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued its first periodic report examining the scientific and technical literature with respect to a possible link between the September 11 World Trade Center (WTC) attacks and the incidence of cancer. NIOSH concluded (as page 40) that "[b]ased on the scientific and medical findings in the peer-reviewed literature reported in this first periodic review of cancer for the WTC Health Program, insufficient evidence exists at this time to propose a rule to add cancer, or a certain type of cancer, to the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions." The report also noted that "[i]t is expected that the second periodic review of cancer for the WTC Health Program will be conducted in early to mid-2012 to capture any emerging findings about exposures and cancer in responders and survivors affected by the . . . attacks."