It was bad enough when the only known casualties of the EPA's lies about the safety of the air downtown after 9/11 were first responders, now add children to that list.

Children who breathed the air downtown after 9/11 have increased instances of asthma as compared to other youngsters in the Northeast region, according to a new World Trade Center Health Registry report to be presented this evening by the city Department of Health. What's worse is that children exposed to the Twin Tower's toxic dust cloud were twice as likely as those just living downtown to develop asthma, the survey found.

The DOH said in a release:

According to the survey, half of the 3,100 children enrolled in the registry developed at least one new or worsened respiratory symptom, such as a cough, between 9/11 and the time of the interview....Prior to 9/11, asthma rates among child enrollees were on par with national and regional rates, but at the time of the interview, about 6% of enrolled children had received a new asthma diagnosis. Children exposed to the dust cloud following the collapse of the towers were twice as likely to be diagnosed with asthma as those not caught in the dust cloud, the survey found.

According to the DOH, "This survey included children under 18 years of age on 9/11/01, who lived or went to school south of Canal Street (preschool and K-12) or were south of Chambers Street on 9/11. The findings will be presented at the Second Annual Meeting of WTC Health Registry at Pace University this evening, but the DOH provided some further data.