In addition to publishing the study, The Lancet prepared a podcast featuring an interview with Dr. Prezant. He said mong the priorities of this study was to ensure that it included every firefighter who was employed at the NYFD that was at 9/11, and also everyone who was employed as a firefighter at the NYFD. They examined data sets including what types of cancers the firefighters had, and where it was reported, and made sure that there were no duplications in the records to make sure no cancer was counted twice. They compared results among exposed firefighters, non-exposed firefighters and a similar general population, as well as the time period during which the screening was done to make sure screening methods were similar.

The study indicates an increased risk for the development of all cancers, combined, in firefighters exposed to the toxic dust, smoke and fumes at the Ground Zero site on 9/11, Dr. Prezant said. He said data shows a 19 percent increase for WTC-exposed firefighters, compared to non-exposed firefighters.

Listen to the podcast.

SOURCE: myMeso › Listen to an interview with lead author of NYFD cancer study

The legislation was signed into law in January, and and established a $2.8 billion federal fund that is supposed to provide health care and compensation for people who were sickened following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center as a result of their exposure to dust and debris at and around the site. The legislation may cover first responders, as well as workers who helped clear the site in the days, weeks and months following the terrorist attack.

However, cancer was excluded as a covered condition. The exclusion was announced in July, following a review by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which said there was “too little scientific evidence linking cancer to time spent amid the dust and wreckage.”

This, despite research that indicated from the beginning that the dust resulting from the burning and collapse of the World Trade Center buildings contained such known carcinogens as dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as asbestos, which is linked to the development of mesothelioma.

With the release of new data gathered with the added perspective of time, there is a call for further review of the policies governing the compensation fund, to expand coverage for cancer. Many believe incidences of cancer linked to WTC site exposure will only increase as more time passes. Researchers note that “many cancers, including mesothelioma and other malignancies related to the known toxins found at Ground Zero, can take decades to develop,” according to a Huffington Post report.

Fred Blosser, a public affairs officer with NIOSH, told the Huffington Post the agency will review the new studies, and plans to conduct a second periodic review in early to mid-2012.

George Wong, a police officer who worked at the World Trade Center site during 9/11,  died recently after a 2-year battle with gastric cancer. On his death certificate, doctors  listed the cause of death as “9/11 toxins,” but the New York health department still maintains there is no conclusive link between illnesses and 9/11 toxins. His cause of death was questioned by the medical examiner, and the City took the officer’s body for further examination following his wake. Watch the video.

SOURCE: myMeso › People exposed to toxins at WTC site during 9/11 call for cancer coverage

According to The Lancet, “Respiratory illnesses and post-traumatic stress disorder are known to be increased in those who survived the World Trade Center disaster, but data reported in this issue show that 9 years after the attacks, rescue and recovery workers continue to have substantial physical and mental health problems.”

While it is too early yet to find evidence of increased mortality among these workers, the research indicates that “An excess of cancer cases is reported in firefighters who survived the disaster..” according to The Lancet.

The study, titled “Early assessment of cancer outcomes in New York City firefighters after the 9/11 attacks: an observational cohort study” was published in Volume 378, Issue 9794 of The Lancet. Researchers studied cancer incidence and its potential association to exposure of New York City firefighters to known and suspected carcinogens at Ground Zero. The study examined the effect of these possible carcinogens on FDNY first responders in the first 7 years after 9/11/01.

According to the report, the study included 9,853 men who were employed as firefighters on Jan. 1, 1996. Researchers determined that “on and after 9/11, person-time for 8,927 firefighters was classified as WTC-exposed; all person-time before 9/11, and person-time after 9/11 for 926 non-WTC-exposed firefighters, was classifed as non-WTC exposed.” Explaining their methods, researchers state in the report, “We estimated the ratio of incidence rates in WTC-exposed firefighters to non-exposed firefighters, adjusted for age, race and ethnic origin, and secular trends, with the US National Cancer Institute Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) reference population.”

In its Findings summary, the report concluded that cancer incidence in firefighters exposed to toxins at the World Trade Center was about 1 in 10, while cancer incidence in the general male population in the U.S. was about 1 in 19. This incidence among the non-WTC-exposed firefighters also was about 1 in 19. This leads researchers to believe there is a “modest excess of cancer cases in the WTC-exposed” group.

However, researchers also caution that there has been a relatively short time period since the events of 9/11 and the exposures, while many cancers, such as mesothelioma, may have long developmental periods. They recommend continued follow-up including cancer screenings and prevention strategies.

Read the full FDNY post-9/11 cancer assessment.

The Lancet has a full report on the events of 9/11 in this special section.

SOURCE: myMeso › Studies continue to show increased cancer risk for 9/11 first responders

The study included 12,781 workers who were present at the WTC site between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 24, 2001, which is 91.6 percent of the workers that were present. The report notes that the event exposed the workers – as well as those living and working in the surrounding area – to a dense cloud of pulverized building materials and chemical byproducts, including pulverized glass and cement, insulation fibers including asbestos, and toxic chemicals.

According to a report in The New York Times that summarizes the study findings, this is the first study to document long-term harm in a large group of firefighters and emergency medical workers who worked at Ground Zero. All of the subjects of the study had had previous lung function tests, providing a baseline for the study.

The study was authored by Dr. David J. Prezant, chief medical officer in the Office of Medical Affairs at the New York City Fire Department. The study was approved by the institutional review board at Montefiore Medical Center.

Results of the study revealed that firefighters, who had heavier exposure to dust by the nature of their work had greater first-year declines than EMS personnel, especially for firefighters who were present in the morning on 9/11, when the dust cloud was most intense after the buildings fell. However, researchers noted they were surprised to see “little or no recovery of average lung function during the 6-year follow-up period.” In fact, they noted continued decline in lung function among the study groups.

Normally, the study notes, “smoke inhalation during firefighting causes relatively mild and reversible respiratory impairment.” Additionally, according to the report, long-term effects of firefighting on pulmonary function also are normally mild.

The average loss of lung function for 9/11 rescue workers is about 10 percent. Most of the loss occurred within the first year after 9/11 exposure, with little or no subsequent recovery.

Thousands of workers injured at Ground Zero have been fighting for compensation from the City of New York. Last month about 10,000 plaintiffs reached a settlement agreement totaling $657.5 million, but a judge rejected the settlement shortly afterward, saying it did not provide enough compensation for the plaintiffs. The matter is now back in negotiations, and a new hearing is set for Monday, according to the Times.

SOURCE: myMeso › Study reveals persistent, significant reduction in lung function for 9/11 responders, workers

The settlement agreement has been in the works for about two years, taking place among a great deal of confusion and disagreement about the city’s responsibility for injured workers. The city had claimed it was immune because injuries occurred during a national emergency or civil defense situation. However, injured workers and their families argued they were employed by the city and entitled to compensation as they would be for any injury incurred on the job.

According to the Times report, 95 percent of the plaintiffs in this case must accept the terms of the settlement for it to take effect. Each plaintiff’s case will then be examined individually to determine how much compensation that person will receive, which lawyers estimate could run anywhere from a few thousand dollars to as much as $1 million. Individual compensation will depend on the severity of illness and level of exposure to contaminants at the World Trade Center site.

A variety of health screening and tracking programs were established in the days and months following the September 11 tragedy. Workers and others who simply lived and worked near the disaster site began complaining of a variety of illnesses, especially respiratory problems. There is an official World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, as well as studies conducted by the New York Fire Department and other organizations.

Some health problems presented immediately following exposure to the site, such as respiratory distress, while others are only just showing up in those who worked at the site. It is now known that the Ground Zero site was contaminated with asbestos at levels at least two times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s “safe” level. Because of the long latency period between exposure to asbestos and the development of mesothelioma – an average of between 10 and 50 years – the true effect of asbestos exposure may not be known for years to come.

Some of the plaintiffs involved in the current settlement are not yet ill, but fear they will develop illnesses in the future as a result of their exposure to the toxins like asbestos. According to the Times, the settlement provides a $23.4 million insurance policy to cover possible future claims.

SOURCE: myMeso › 9/11 rescue, cleanup workers reach health care settlement with City

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

SOURCE: myMeso › As we remember 9-11, the disaster’s first responders suffer from toxic exposure

Experts say there will be long-term health effects as a result of the exposure to toxic chemicals, including mesothelioma and other serious respiratory diseases, cancer, asthma, kidney disease, heart disease and more.

The documentary says more than 2,500 different contaminants were released in the collapse, including more than 400 tons of asbestos, 90 thousand liters of jet fuel (cancer causing Benzine); lead, cadmium and mercury, which can severely impact the kidneys, PCBs, PAHs and crystalline silica.

Watch the documentary.

SOURCE: myMeso › WTC repsonders suffer from toxic poisons

According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygeine, the EPA collected and analyzed close to 5,000 samples for airborne asbestos in lower Manhattan between Sept. 11, 2001 and Jan. 22, 2002. Thirty-one of the samples collected prior to Sept. 30, 2001 indicated asbestos in excess of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) standard, as did four other samples collected on four other dates during the testing period.

At the time, the health department assured the public that they did not expect brief exposures to low levels of airborne asbestos to create long-term health effects.

However, the National Cancer Institute states that people with only brief exposure to asbestos are at risk for the development of asbestos diseases including asbestosis and mesothelioma. They cite a study titled Environmental Health Perspectives, published in 2006, that examined results of a five-year assessment of the health of workers. Results of the program, called the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program, noted that nearly 70 percent of World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers suffered new or worsened respiratory systems while performing work at the WTC site.

In 2002, the Center for Disease Control’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the New York City Health Department established the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Registry, hoping to monitor the health of those exposed to the WTC disaster. The program plans to follow up with enrollees for the next 20 years, and will examine both physical and mental health.

The Registry includes 71,437 participants, including rescue and recovery workers, Lower Manhattan residents, area workers, commuters and passerby. The voluntary program was open to anyone who lived, worked or went to school in the area of the WTC disaster, or were involved in rescue and recovery efforts. It is the largest public health registry in U.S. history, but registered particpants still only comprise about 17.4 percent of the people who would have been eligible to participate, program officials estimate.

According to the report, released yesterday, half the registrants reported being in the dust cloud from the collapsing towers; 70 percent witnessed a traumatic sight; and 13 percent sustained an injury that day. The reports says 3 percent of all adults in the program reported they have developed new asthma, 16 percent had post-traumatic stress disorder, and 8 percent have severe psychological distress.

The report finds that first responders – rescue and recovery workers who worked on the debris pile – have the highest rate of new asthma, at 6 percent.

Additionally, examining the health of participants two to three years after the event revealed 3 percent of Lower Manhattan adult residents and workers had developed asthma – twice what is believed to be the baseline rate of development of asthma over that period.

The Health Department has issued a follow-up survey that examined program participants’ health issues five to six years after the 9/11 attack, and expect to release those findings in the next few months.

Additionally, since the attacks of Sept. 11, the New York State Department of Health has been collecting information about the deaths among World Trade Center responders, recovery workers and volunteers – no matter how or why the death occurred – through its World Trade Center (WTC) Responder Fatality Investigation. It is hoped the data will help track and identify all fatalities and allow the department to analyze the root causes.

As of June 2008, the program has identified 382 people who worked a the WTC site and have since passed away, and has confirmed 204 causes of death. The report states that 30 of those people have died of respiratory and intrathoracic organ disease, making up 19.4 percent of the overall confirmed deaths. Twenty-six of the deaths, or 16.8 percent, were specifically related to lung disease.

SOURCE: myMeso › Mesothelioma lingering concern at Ground Zero

The buildings’ collapse released thousands of pounds of hazardous material into the atmosphere, which may have included a combination of glass, asbestos, fiberglass, pulverized concrete, lead, mercury, cadmium, dioxins and PCBs. Construction of the World Trade Center buildings was begun before the use of asbestos was banned in the U.S., and some estimates say as much as 400 tons of asbestos fiber was in the buildings.

People near Ground Zero could experience a number of medical problems as a result of their exposure to this toxic dust, including respiratory problems and asbestos disease including mesothelioma.

In an official release from the CDC, Christine Branche, acting director of the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), said, “These public health dollars extend the reach of our efforts so that they help support the provision of the health care services to residents, students, an others who were in the vicinity of the attacks of September 11, 2001.”

The release says the NIOSH-administered grants provide up to $10 million per year for three years, and the money can be used to help cover gaps when individuals’ public or private insurance is insufficient to fully cover the costs associated with care or treatment.

Funding will be provided to one to three organizations, with the deadline for proposal submission set for Aug. 25, 2008. For more information about how to apply for one of these grants, visit www.Grants.gov. The CDC encourages health and medical care facilities to apply.

The CDC says it already has invested at least $925 million in programs to support responders to the 9/11 emergency.

SOURCE: myMeso › CDC grant for possible Ground Zero illnesses

NEW YORK VOLUNTEER CHAPTER OF MESO FOUNDATION HOSTS THIRD ANNUAL5K WALK FOR HOPE

MERRICK, NY: The New York Volunteer Chapter of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation) will hold the third annual “5K Walk for Hope” on April 13, 2008 at 10am in Eisenhower Park, located in East Meadow, NY. Over the past two years, the event has raised more than $30K and the volunteer team hopes to build on that success. All proceeds will go to the Meso Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) organization that has awarded more than $5 million in grants for mesothelioma research since 2000.

Mesothelioma is an extremely rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos and most often affects the lungs, although it can also invade the stomach and groin areas. In the United States, 2,500 to 4,000 patients are diagnosed with mesothelioma annually, yet the disease has yet to find the national spotlight for research and funding.

The 9/11 tragedy in New York City demonstrates the continued, long-term threat of mesothelioma. Estimates of the amount of asbestos destroyed in the terrorist attack in Manhattan range as high as 1,000 tons. The impact pulverized this asbestos into tiny, microscopic fibers to which the firefighters, rescue workers, and other heroes of 9/11 were exposed, as well as workers, residents, and school children who returned to the area in the weeks and months following.

After mesothelioma’s long latency period, which is 15-50 years, the risk of cancer among those most heavily exposed could reach as high as one in ten. This year alone has seen the number of reported cases of illness and death of Ground Zero workers increase and unfortunately that number will only continue to rise, which is why more research is needed.

Registration for “5K Walk for Hope” is $15. Those who are interested in participating should contact Janice Malkotsis at (917) 751-2776. For more information about The Meso Foundation, please visit www.curemeso.org.

SOURCE: myMeso › Meso Foundation NY chapter Walk for Hope