As cancer rates rise almost two decades after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund is running out of funds. Some advocates say the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund should be extended so that more victims can claim compensation.

When two planes hit the World Trade Center Towers, numerous toxins were released into the air, and people in lower Manhattan breathed in the fumes. Though experts initially ruled the air to be safe, later research discovered that the debris in the air contained toxins like carcinogens and other substances.

Now, two decades after the attacks, people are feeling the effects of their exposure to toxins at Ground Zero, around the area, and after the attacks. Unfortunately, deaths from diseases related to toxin exposure at Ground Zero are soon expected to outnumber the deaths caused by the event of the terrorist attacks.

Patient reports and experts indicate that many people affected by toxins at Ground Zero developed a range of cancers. Initially, experts thought that victims only could develop lung cancer as a result of 9/11 toxin exposure. However, now it is known that many types of cancer are connected to breathing in toxins at Ground Zero.

Other types of cancer that are connected to 9/11 toxin exposure are leukemia, throat cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, colon cancer, and others.

In fact, men who were exposed to toxins at Ground Zero have a much higher chance of developing breast cancer than men in the general population. Breast cancer is extremely rare among men, but many cases have been reported of breast cancer in male 9/11 survivors.

Some men who developed breast cancer after 9/11 toxin exposure had no family history of breast cancer, indicating just how dangerous the toxins released during the terrorist attacks were.

9/11 Victims Compensation Fund

Some 9/11 victims and their families have been able to receive some compensation from the government to help them handle medical fees, lost wages due to illness and death, and to offer some compensation for the physical and emotional injuries suffered in the terrorist attacks of September 11.

However, as cases of cancer related to 9/11 increase, the fund is running out. In fact, one of the main funds for victims, called the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, is set to close in 2020. The fund was set to close much earlier, but the deadline to file claims extended after it was discovered that victims were developing 9/11-related conditions even many years after the attacks.

Even now, the funds available in the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund are dwindling. As time goes on, this may limit the amount of money that people can receive, and may decrease the number of claims approved at all. In fact, executives of the fund have already suggested changing compensation payouts to help stretch the dollars still available in the fund.