With 9/11 anniversary, remembering toxic exposure of WTC emergency responders and New Yorkers

Oct 14, 2009

On the eighth anniversary of the September 11^th terrorist attacks, survivors recalled the horror of that day. Barbara O’Brien was in lower Manhattan that day, and she remembers the details quite vividly. She discussed the terrible smell of burned plastic, metal, fuel and other chemicals that lingered throughout lower Manhattan and Brooklyn for weeks. Those who breathed in that smell complained of skin problems and respiratory problems, a condition that became known as World Trade Center Cough.

Though some people wore surgical masks as they walked outside, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued five press releases that assured people that the air was safe to breathe in the 10 days following the attacks. But a memo issued by then-head of the EPA Christine Todd Whitman had ordered that all statements made to the media had to be cleared by the National Security Council (NSC) first. The public was not told that people with asthma or other respiratory illnesses should take precautions or that the toxic dust that covered the inside and outside of buildings should be cleaned by professionals.

While the Ground Zero Elected Officials task force conducted air quality tests that Mayor Rudy Giuliani announced had come back safe, New York City Councilwoman Kathryn Freed and candidate Alan Gerson snuck in their own scientists with air testing equipment. Their findings painted a different picture, showing that levels of airborne asbestos were double what EPA guidelines considered “safe.” Inhaling asbestos fibers can result in mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and other serious illnesses – and despite the existence of governmental guidelines to minimize exposure within practical limits, there is really no safe level of asbestos exposure.

City instructions for cleaning up asbestos were severely lacking in safety precautions.  And in addition to the asbestos, the New York Daily News reported that the EPA had found dangerous levels of benzene and dioxin in the air.  But these dangerous pollutants were also not addressed by cleanup plans.

O’Brien recalls that her eyes and throat burned after walking through the Financial District that October for only an hour. Even then, one month after the attacks, emergency responders worked at the World Trade Center site all day long without protective equipment or instructions for proper health and safety procedures. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) failed to enforce worker safety standards even months after the immediate emergency had passed.

As a result, a recent study discovered that 25% of Ground Zero workers still have persistent lung problems. Other federally funded health monitoring programs have shown that 9/11 survivors show not only respiratory problems, but persistent gastrointestinal and psychological effects as well. As of June, almost 60,000 people were enrolled in the $393 million federal health monitoring program. Firefighters, policemen and other dedicated responders selflessly worked at the site, not knowing that they would be struggling with serious health problems for the rest of their lives.  

For some of these responders, their courageous efforts in that crisis may eventually be the cause of their deaths, but the full consequences of their toxic exposure may not be known for many years.  Mesothelioma and many other diseases caused by exposure to asbestos and other toxins can take decades before they manifest.

NYPD Detective James Zadroga died of lung disease in 2006 after spending over 470 hours digging through debris at Ground Zero. The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act was named in his honor, establishing a federal monitoring and treatment mechanism at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) this past June.

For the full story, go to AlterNet and Examiner.com.

Latest News Stories