WTC dust lingers in lungs and lives of those who were there

Suzanne Plunkett / AP

 

 

"[T]he plumes from the collapse of the WTC and subsequent fires impacted the New York City metro area."

 

- Lower Manhattan Test and Clean Program, Final Report, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, November, 2008

In the huge plumes of smoke and dust that exploded across lower Manhattan on that terrible and terrifying morning of September 11, 2001, microscopic debris was inhaled, swallowed and stained the shocked and tear-smeared faces of the tens of thousands of first responders and Gothamites who were there.

 

"Concentrations of asbestos found in dust samples and in the air inside the apartments [a week after the attacks] were significantly elevated." (Ibid.)

 

Results from federally funded health monitoring programs "show persistent respiratory, gastrointestinal, and psychological effects among the exposed populations," according to Fred Blosser, a spokesman for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

NIOSH, which monitors those affected by the collapse of the World Trade Center, says that as of June 1, 2009, nearly 60,000 people were enrolled in the federal health monitoring program. There may be others affected, Blosser says, who are not part of the program, which so far has had $393 million allocated to it.

New York Police Detective James Zadroga, who died
in 2006 from lung disease after his work at Ground Zero,
carries oxygen as he hugs his child (AP Photo)  

Although, Blosser claims, "no deaths have been reported among responders enrolled in the treatment programs," he admits that the case of New York Police Detective James Zadroga, a first responder who  "spent over 470 hours digging through debris and inhaling the noxious gases and fumes present around the Ground Zero area" (according to the Officer Down Memorial Page), and died in 2006 of lung disease, "greatly heightened public attention to WTC health concerns."

It is the resolution named for Zadroga - the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act - that established the federal monitoring and treatment mechanism at NIOSH in June of this year, after several attempts over past congressional sessions.

As for the long term effects of the fallout from the toxic elements emitted when the WTC towers fell, Blosser says that is indeterminable with the data we have now. "At present," he said, "we don't know over the long term whether or to what extent conditions will persist in those who are currently enrolled in the monitoring and treatment programs, whether additional cases will be identified, or what long-term trends we may see."

• You can read Fred Blosser's responses to our questions online here.
• Read the latest bulletin from the WTC Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program online.