After nearly two decades, 9/11 health effects continue to cause pain and misery for first responders and others who were in lower Manhattan that day. In addition to almost 3,000 people who were killed on the day the World Trade Center collapsed, an estimated 40,000 more continue to suffer from respiratory diseases and various types of cancer due to the cloud of toxic substances that hung over the area for weeks afterward.

According to one physician who heads the WTC Health Program and Mount Sinai Hospital, between 50 and 80 new cases of 9/11-related cancer are diagnosed monthly.

A Chemical “Witches’ Brew”

When the World Trade Center was under construction in the late 1960s, the late Dr. Irving Selikoff, a researcher who was among the first to establish the link between the inhalation of asbestos fibers and respiratory disease, recalled, seeing asbestos “falling like snow” from the construction site.

According to estimates, there was approximately 5000 tons of asbestos used in the buildings, which could not be removed for less than $1 billion dollars – approximately 12 times what it cost to construct the WTC in the first place. The asbestos was so thick in the atmosphere on September 11 that one first responder developed mesothelioma – a cancer that usually takes decades to kill a patient – and died from the disease five years later.

Asbestos cancer is still rampant among survivors of the events that day. However, it was far from the only toxic substance that was released into the air. The dust that covered Lower Manhattan included:

• fiberglass
• mercury
• benzene
• lead and other heavy metals used in electrical systems
• PCBs
• dioxins
• cement dust
• gypsum

And that’s just for starters, according to Paul Lioy of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Insitute in New Jersey, who has done extensive research on the dust from that day.

Specific 9/11 Health Effects

Despite the large amount of asbestos contained in 9/11 dust, asbestos cancer and mesothelioma (another asbestos-related malignancy) are not the most common forms of cancer among survivors. Most survivor cancer cases involve various forms of skin cancer and prostate cancer. Other common conditions include:

• chronic asthma
• COPD
• gastroesophageal reflux disease
• rhinosinusitis
• sarcoidosis
• silicosis
• sleep apnea

And that’s just the physical manifestations. Thousands more continue to suffer from the psychological consequences of 9/11 complications, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and major depression.

Help for Victims

Thanks largely to the efforts of comedian-turned-9/11 activist Jon Stewart, Congress finally established long-term funding for the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund (VCF).

Originally due to expire at the end of 2020, new legislation and funding will continue for the next 70 years, ensuring that people suffering from 9/11 health effects will be taken care of for the remainder of their lives.

In addition to funding for medical care and monitoring, the 9/11 VCF offers tax-exempt compensation for pain and suffering, loss of earnings, death benefits for surviving family members and coverage for funeral expenses.