Students and teachers who developed WTC related health conditions could be eligible to receive compensation.

Education officials in New York are attempting to reach out to former staff, students, and teachers in the school system to notify them about compensation and/or free health care because of potential exposure to dangerous toxins in the air following the 9/11 attack.

News stories have profiled the devastating impact of breathing that air for first responders who worked and lived in the area and helped to dig through the wreckage. Many of those volunteers and employees developed WTC related health conditions like cancer. Most of those health conditions have developed years after the attack.

Now teachers and students could be eligible to receive payments through the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and the World Trade Center Health program because of possible exposure that occurred in the weeks and months following the terrorist attack.

The United Federatiopn of Teachers is conducting a campaign to contact around 19,000 students who previously attended school in the area surrounding Ground Zero. A social media campaign and partnerships with teachers unions are helping to identify educational professionals who might also have WTC related health conditions from their employment.

Part of the purpose behind the awareness campaign is to highlight that victims beyond first responders are eligible for compensation. Some students have already developed many of the same cancers that police officers and firefighters working in the area did, prompting the awareness campaign. Some have called the students and teachers the forgotten victims.

The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund was extended by President Donald Trump in July 2019 after increasing pressure from advocates who pointed out how many claims were filed in recent months. Between 2001 and 2003, the fund processed claims associated with deaths and injuries from the terrorist attacks, according to CNN.

Recognizing the long-term impacts of working in or near that area, however, the fund was expanded in 2011 to compensate individuals and first responders who developed WTC related health conditions in the years after the cleanup was complete.

Since the initial opening of the fund to first responders, over $5.2 billion has been paid to victims who could show that they have serious 9/11-related health problems.

According to some air pollution experts, the air surrounding Ground Zero was extremely toxic for those living and working in the area. Some research has shown that the material destroyed when the buildings collapsed was concrete, which, when inhaled, can cause silicosis. Additionally, there were many more contaminants likely released into the air at the time of the attacks.

One study completed by the chief medical officer working at the New York City Fire Department determined that all of the workers examined for the purpose of the project had impaired lung function. The average lung impairment across studied workers was 10 percent, something the researcher believed was tied to the toxins breathed in during the 9/11 cleanup. If you or someone you know was affected, you might need legal support and Top Class Actions can help you find an attorney.