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Survivors in the 9/11 attack are dying of cancer
The cloud of dust and ash that covered Manhattan after the September 11 attacks contained carcinogens. Many rescuers and survivors have already developed cancer, in the coming years the number of cancer cases may increase several times.
The cloud of dust and ash that covered Manhattan after the September 11 attacks contained carcinogens. Many rescuers and survivors have already developed cancer, in the coming years the number of cancer cases may increase several times.
In late August, Marcy Borders died. She got popularity by photo shot just after the September 11 attacks in New-York: she was standing completely covered with ash from the destroyed World Trade Center towers. Perhaps it is this dust that killed this "ash woman", as well as other people who were able to survive after the attack, the magazine Bolshoi Gorod (Big City) reports with reference to CityLab.
According to 2014 data, nearly 2.5 thousand people involved in the rescue work, or who are victims of terrorist attacks, developed cancer. In the coming years, the number of such cancer patients will grow rapidly, experts believe.
Hazardous dust
After the collapse of the twin towers, Manhattan was literally covered with a cloud of dust. This dust contained particles of carcinogens and various chemicals: asbestos, fibreglass, mercury, and benzene, among others. They were breathed by those who survived after the attack, as well as those who came to rescue them. To construct the World Trade Center 300-400 tons of asbestos was used, according to official estimates. Over time, people who were somehow involved in the attack were getting sick.
The first reports appeared in 2002: Dr. David Prezant of the New York City Fire Department noted that firefighters who took part in extinguishing the fire suffer from respiratory diseases. He called it the "World Trade cough".
Not all those sick get help
Ten years after the terrorist attack, in 2011, families of those who died of this respiratory disease, or those who suffer from it, began to receive compensation. In 2011, the World Trade Center Health Program was organized, which helps the victims to have treatment illnesses caused by the terrorist attack. Two years later, the authorities have also added to the list of diseases, which can be compensated, about 50 different types of cancer. Harmful substances, emitted after the terrorist attacks, can cause such cancer as thyroid cancer, prostate cancer and melanoma.
Experts of the World Trade Center Health Program suggest that most of all the victims develop cancer of the lungs and the digestive system. Stomach cancer was the cause of the "ash woman" death. Asbestos also causes mesothelioma; however, this type of cancer usually occurs at least 11 years after exposure to carcinogen. Sometimes the first symptoms appear within several decades after tumor formation. Experts of the World Trade Center Health Program expect the increase of the number of patients in the next 30 years.
Most people who develop cancer because of terrorist attack do not link their disease to the disaster directly. Therefore, they do not receive assistance from special funds. Ordinary New York residents who were just next to the twin towers are also under risk. They are not considered victims of the terrorist attack. For example, experts of the World Trade Center Health Program worry about the health of former pupils of schools adjacent to the World Trade Center, which were not directly affected by the terrorist attack.
The WTC Health Program is set to expire in October this year, the compensation fund in October 2016. If they are not extended, people with cancer after the attack will not get aid and compensation for treatment, researches will not get funding for further research.
Original text: http://bg.ru/world/vyzhivshie_v_terakte_11_sentjabrja_umirajut_ot_rak-23196/
