9/11 Anniversary: Don't Forget The Workers (or lies and inaction)

[Omaha Steve]

http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/09/911-anniversary-dont-forget-workers.html

9/11 Anniversary: Don't Forget The Workers

Next week will be filled with media reports about the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and report cards on "homeland security." President Bush will be seeking to win back the mantle of great protector of the American people that has served him so well in past elections.

But there is another story that should accompany each and every 9/11 commemoration report:

The official death toll from the 9/11 attacks is placed at 2,819. But as the fifth anniversary of the attack approaches, a study released today confirms that the real toll of 9/11 is actually much higher and still growing.

Exposure to a toxic burning brew of caustic concrete dust, asbestos, PCBs, jet fuel, and plastics, lead, chromium, mercury, vinyl chloride, benzene, human bodies and thousands of other substances has seriously damaged the health of thousands of workers who worked to clean up the remains of the World Trade Center. In fact, it may be decades before we know the true toll of the World Trade Center in illness and early death.

But the true tragedy is that much of this additional pain, illness and death could have been prevented, if it hadn't been for the lies and inaction -- lasting half a decade -- of the federal government, and to a lesser extent, the government of New York city.

Yesterday, the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York released the largest study yet of thousands of Ground Zero workers that confirms that "the impact of the rescue and recovery effort on their health has been more widespread and persistent than previously thought, and is likely to linger far into the future." Only one worker is confirmed to have died from the effects of the smoke, although several others should probably be added to the list as well.

The study covered 9,442 workers and focused only on respiratory problems, although workers also suffered from severe gastrointestinal and psychological effects such as depression and post traumatic stress disorder as well. Later studies will focus on psychological effects.

According to the head of the study,


“There should no longer be any doubt about the health effects of the World Trade Center disaster,” said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of Mount Sinai’s World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program. “Our patients are sick, and they will need ongoing care for the rest of their lives.”

The results, in brief:



* Roughly 70 percent of nearly 10,000 workers tested at Mount Sinai from 2002 to 2004 reported that they had new or substantially worsened respiratory problems while or after working at ground zero.

* One-third of the patients in the new study showed diminished lung capacity in tests designed to measure the amount of air a person can exhale.

* Of those studied, 46.5 percent reported symptoms like chest tightness, shortness of breath and dry cough that generally affect the lower airways of the lungs.

* 62.5 percent reported upper-respiratory symptoms like sinusitis and nose and throat irritations.

* Among nonsmokers, 28 percent were found to have some breathing impairment, more than double the rate for nonsmokers in the general population.

* Firefighters and others who arrived at the sight earlier, had the worst problems

The full text of the study can be downloaded here


FULL story at link above.

[AZBlue]

1. K&R

These are the forgotten victims of 9/11.