The Toxic Disaster at the World Trade Center

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March 18, 2008

From September 11, 2001 to the present, the evidence of toxic materials impacting World Trade Center responders and volunteers has been overwhelming. During the early stages of the disaster response, the New York Fire Department developed a WTC screening program, which documented a substantial proportion of respiratory symptoms among emergency workers.

The Environmental Protection Agency reported enormous density figures for airborne particles in the hours after the initial disaster. Lesser amounts of pollutants continued to rise from the site for weeks to follow. Exposures from smoldering fires continued until December 2001. The EPA determined that WTC dust “contained pulverized (alkaline) cement, glass fibers, asbestos, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polychlorinated furans and dioxins.”

A study conducted by a health consortium in New York from 2002-2004 showed symptoms that included a wide assortment of respiratory problems. “Participants experienced numerous other symptoms, including a substantial proportion with incident and persistent musculoskeletal symptoms, such as low back pain and upper or lower extremity pain…Other incident and persistent symptoms included heartburn eye irritation and frequent headache.” – Centers for Disease Control, Newsletter September 2004.

The report concludes that “the findings in WTC examinees are consistent with current understanding of WTC exposures; however, the persistence of symptoms for >1 year after the 9/11 event is a new finding and requires further study.”

Victims of exposure to WTC airborne pollutants are exhibiting many of the symptoms that have been found in people who have been exposed to toxic inhalants and developed life-threatening symptoms years later. The CDC sees the persistence of existing symptoms as a potential warning for World Trade Center disease victims.

According to the EPA, asbestos was just one of the toxic pollutants generated by the 9/11 disaster. As thousands of Americans have learned, asbestos exposure alone can lead to mesothelioma, a lethal form of lung cancer. It is clear that public health authorities expect the medical problems cause by WTC dust and smoke to develop into long-term afflictions for some of the workers and city residents who were exposed. If you are one of those people, contact one of the WTC disease support programs and make sure that your health is carefully monitored for the foreseeable future.