As we remember 9-11, the disaster’s first responders suffer from toxic exposure
11 Sep 2009 by Wendi Lewis under Events, News, People
Today, millions of Americans turned their thoughts to where they were and what they were doing on this date eight years ago, when they heard of the terrorist strike on the World Trade Center in New York City. They mourn for loved ones lost in the attacks, and gather their resolve to pull together as a nation as we did in the days following the attacks. But for many, the horror, the fear and the dying continues. For the brave first responders, who arrived while the buildings burned and stayed through their collapse and through the heartbreaking months that followed during cleanup, the disaster has created lingering illness, debilitating respiratory diseases and cancers including mesothelioma.
A CBS News investigative report spoke with individuals and families coping with this second disaster, a disaster that robs them and their loved ones of health and quality of life. Rescue workers, very few wearing any type of special gear, toiled day after day in dusty clouds of toxins including asbestos, jet fuel, mercury, lead and pulverized cement and glass. According to the CBS News report, health officials say such multi-chemical exposure as these workers experienced is “unprecedented.”
A variety of health screening and tracking programs were established in the days and months following 9/11/2001, when workers and even people who simply lived and worked near the disaster site began complaining of a variety of illnesses, particularly respiratory distress. To date, according to the CBS report, about 43,000 people have been physically screened for 9/11-related health issues, 28,000 are participating in the official World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, and an additional 18,000 people in a similar program operated by the New York Fire Department.
Many 9/11 responders are angry, saying they have to wade through mounds of regulations, restrictions and other roadblocks to fight for access to care and compensation. Many who die are not classified as technically having died “in the line of duty,” and their families are denied those benefits.
Physicians say it is difficult to definitively link health conditions to 9/11 exposures because of the wide variety of toxins present on the site, and the varying levels of exposure among workers to amounts and types of chemicals and other substances. Some trouble signs presented immediately, such as respiratory distress, while others, such as immune system cancer multiple myeloma, and colon cancer, are now showing up in responders age 45 and younger.
Some diseases could take even longer to develop. Mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, abdomen and/or heart, is a result of asbestos exposure. It is now known that the 9/11 site was contaminated with asbestos at levels at least two times higher then the EPA’s “safe” level. The latency period for mesothelioma averages between 10 and 50 years, so the effect of this asbestos exposure may not be known for years to come.
How tragic that one of the most tragic days in recent American history should be borne the hardest by those who were bravest, those who dedicated their lives to caring for their fellow man, who rushed into the danger zone while others rushed away. My heart goes out to these brave souls, and I pray that they are not forgotten.
There is a link below to the comprehensive CBS News report about this. There is a wealth of information at this site, including video interviews with 9/11 responders, medical reports about 9/11 health issues, and links to resources and information about World Trade Center responder health programs and studies. I urge you to add a comment at the CBS web site voicing your support for more programs to help these brave folks.
Source: CBS News
