Over 100,000 people at risk for mesothelioma after 9/11 attacks
January 27, 2005
According to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF), over 100,000 individuals present in Manhattan during and immediately after the collapse of the Twin Towers are at risk for developing mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is an incurable form of cancer linked to asbestos exposure that is usually fatal. Using published private and government sources, MARF’s report showed the air was heavily contaminated with asbestos after the collapse, proving that many local residents, rescue workers and tower survivors were exposed to dangerously high doses of asbestos.
The New York Times confirmed the dangerous high asbestos levels yesterday, reporting on the findings of environmental consultants involved with the demolition of a bank building across the street from Ground Zero. The bank requested a comprehensive, detailed study of the extent of contamination in the building, and the R.J. Lee Company in 2003 found extremely high levels of asbestos.
The MARF study, along with documents from the EPA and New York health authorities, supports MARF’s conclusion that thousands of rescue workers and other innocent people are now at risk for developing mesothelioma in the next 10 to 50 years, according to the organization.
MARF has recommended Congress take immediate action to prevent additional future suffering and death as a result of the terrorists’ acts, calling on Congress to establish a National Mesothelioma Research and treatment Program with funding of $28 million per year.
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