Source:
The GuardianThe destruction of the World Trade Centre has taken a heavy toll on the health of those who tried to rescue people from the burning buildings, those who took part in the clean-up, and those who lived near the site, research shows.
Firefighters who endangered their lives trying to save people have paid a long-term price: a 19%higher risk of cancer as a result of exposure to toxic fumes, according to a study published in a special Lancet series to mark the 10th anniversary of the atrocity. Other research in the series reveals the scale of mental and physical damage suffered by rescuers and witnesses.
Dr David Prezant, chief medical officer of New York City fire department, and colleagues studied the firefighters, together with others from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, and Montefiore Medical Centre, New York.
In the years following the disaster, said Prezant, the firefighters began to ask about cancer. The World Trade Centre fire was like no other they had encountered.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/02/world-trade-centre-rescuers-health-risk