Even though the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened over a decade ago, people are continuing to be victimized by World Trade Center cancer.

The aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks left the Twin Towers destroyed and released a slew of toxic substances into the air, which has reportedly caused numerous victims to develop cancer.

World Trade Center cancer has been diagnosed in people living in the surrounding area, the emergency first responders who were at the scene, and many other persons who were present in the area and were exposed to toxic substances.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 left 2,763 dead in Lower Manhattan, including 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 police officers, and 37 Port Authority officers. Thereafter, over one million people were exposed to toxic substances during the eight month cleanup period.

The toxic substances released after the buildings had collapsed included aluminum, asbestos, glass, and burned jet fuel. According to the World Trade Center Health program, nearly 10,000 people developed long term health complications due to the toxic substances in the area.

One New York attorney who represents World Trade Center cancer victims states that he gets up to 10 clients a month who have been diagnosed with illness.

Overview of World Trade Center Cancer

People diagnosed with World Trade Center cancer may be eligible to participate in the $7.3 billion September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which can help with the lifelong medical expenses.

In its early stages, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund catered to people who were killed or severely injured by the terrorist attacks. Later on, the Victim’s Compensation Fund had started including people who were involved in the long cleanup period and were exposed to the toxic substances. The earliest reports of World Trade Center cancer involved first responders who developed “World Trade Center cough,” which was often an indicator of lung disease, asbestosis, and other serious illness.

Currently, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is now open to any person who developed long term health complications from the toxic substances near Ground Zero, with approximately 25,000 people currently registered with the fund. The people participating in the compensation program include, but are not limited to:

• First responders
• Firefighters, police officers, and EMTs
• Sanitation workers
• Construction workers
• City workers
• Utility workers
• Cleaners
• 9/11 clean up volunteers
• Out of state responders
• Employees who worked below Canal Street
• Residents who lived below Canal Street
• Students attending school below Canal Street

At this point in time, there have been over 70 cancers linked to the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. According to an article in The Lancet medical journal, United States government agents had “made an early fundamental mistake” when analyzing samples from the dust surrounding Ground Zero.

The article states that the federal agents had used inadequate equipment for fine particle monitoring, which became clogged and screened out larger, toxic particles.

Michael Gochfelf of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute at Rutgers University stated he and his colleagues “were concerned with the sluggishness of the sampling.” The EPA allegedly did not take the concerns of the dust seriously, which gave the public a false sense of security.