A group of recent deaths of New York police and fire officers who took part in the emergency operation at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks has heightened fears that it could be the start of a delayed epidemic of cancer-related illness, according to the BBC. In fairness, cancer deaths eight years after exposure to the toxins don’t really qualify as a “delayed” reaction – cancer doesn’t develop overnight. For those who will get sick from asbestos exposure it’s still early for symptoms of related diseases to surface.
Five firefighters and police officers, all of whom were involved in the rescue and clear-up at the site of the collapsed Twin Towers, have died of cancer in the past three months, the oldest being 44. Three died last month within a four-day period. Those three were Robert Grossman, a Harlem-based police officer who spent several weeks at the emergency site and died of a brain tumour aged 41; fellow police officer Cory Diaz, 37; and firefighter Richard Mannetta, 44.
In addition, John McNamara, a 44-year-old firefighter, died in September; and Renee Dunbar, a police officer in her late 30s, died in August. Workers who are still living have been diagnosed with signs of asbestos cancer, lymphatic tumors, COPD and other lung diseases.
The cluster of cancer deaths comes as Congress is under pressure to pass legislation that would provide federal help to emergency workers who have contracted illnesses since 9/11. A bill is pending in the House of Representatives to establish a $10 billion fund for hundreds of people who now have cancer, respiratory illnesses and other diseases that may be linked to their work at the World Trade Center site. Federal funds to assist former Ground Zero volunteers who develop respiratory diseases ran out in 2003, leaving the City of New York with the responsibility to help disabled workers.
Included with the one thousand tons of asbestos used to build the towers were thousands of gallons of jet fuel from the two planes, pulverised lead from computers, mercury and highly carcinogenic by-products from the burning of plastics and chlorinated chemicals.
Authorities have recorded 781 deaths among the volunteers who worked at the site, but there is no tabulation of the causes of death. The recent deaths among young rescue workers could be attributed to faster acting carcinogens than asbestos. That doesn’t mean there won’t be victims of asbestos exposure who are claimed by the Twin Towers rescue effort; it’s just that those diseases may not develop for decades – especially mesothelioma.
