Susan Edelman and I have corresponded several times. She has been one of the best reporters regarding the environmental impact of 9/11. I've told her that she is the only thing about the NYPost worth a damn. - Jon

Source: nypost.com

By SUSAN EDELMAN

January 6, 2008 -- At least 204 Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers have died since 9/11 - succumbing to a range of cancers and other ailments, according to preliminary results of a state Health Department study.

Researchers have confirmed 98 fatalities so far with death certificates. They show that 77 died of illnesses, including 55 from lung and various other cancers, the lead researcher told The Post.

Traumatic injuries, such as from car crashes or gunshots, killed the other 21, including three suicides. Five deaths were homicides - four of them cops in the line of duty.

"We're not saying they are all World Trade Center related; we're just saying this is what people are dying from," said Dr. Kitty Gelberg, the state Bureau of Occupational Health's chief epidemiologist.

The WTC Fatalities study, launched a year ago, expects to collect many more names of deceased 9/11 responders over the next 18 months.

"I think it's underreported right now," Gelberg said of the 204 figure. "We want to know about anyone who worked there and died."

Of those deaths, about a third occurred in New York City, a third in Long Island or upstate, and the rest in 15 other states.

The FDNY, the NYPD, the WTC Medical Monitoring Program at Mount Sinai Hospital, and the city's WTC Health Registry have yet to share their data, pending negotiations on patient confidentiality, Gelberg said.

Lawyers for 10,000 WTC responders or their families who have filed toxic-injury suits have turned over names on the condition that the next of kin not be contacted, she said.

The study received a $165,000 federal grant and authority to obtain medical records, autopsies and death certificates. Researchers are also interviewing relatives but will not release any names, Gelberg said.

Several of the 55 responders who died of cancer had the disease before 9/11, but the majority developed it afterward, Gelberg said. After 19 cases of lung cancers, the second-largest cause of death was heart disease, including 10 heart attacks.

susan.edelman@nypost.com