Nearly seven years after the destruction of the World Trade Center many New Yorkers continue to suffer from mental and physical health problems. In response, the Centers for Disease Control recently announced it would contribute a grant of $30 million toward treatment for people who have experienced health problems generated by the disaster.

The collapse of the World Trade Center towers created and dispersed an enormous cloud of dust that was full of toxins and harsh chemicals, including asbestos dust, lead dust, glass fibers, and toxic gases. Among the most toxic of these is asbestos, known to cause asbestosis, mesothelioma and other forms of cancer.  Asbestos fibers may be the most insidious, as the lethal diseases they cause can lie dormant for many years.

Many people who breathed in the dust, including local residents, office workers, firefighters, and volunteer rescue workers, have since developed serious health problems such as severe lung disease and certain types of cancer. Exposure to the traumatic events of the day and the days after has also caused many people to suffer from anxiety, depression, and signs of trauma.

Area hospitals continue to provide treatment and monitoring for people with health problems related to the events of 9/11. These services are provided at no cost for the people who need them, but eventually the hospitals are going to want to recoup costs. As time passes, treatment of asbestos-related diseases may cause an increase in costs. Illnesses caused by asbestos usually take 15 or more years to develop, and can be very expensive to treat. For example, mesothelioma treatment is very expensive since the cancer is quite aggressive and treatments require intensive medical attention and equipment.