Mesothelioma: Future 9/11 Victims

Last year, my husband came home and blandly told me that in the course of doing renovations where he worked, some of the workers had torn out some asbestos, and the guys in his building had been exposed. I hit the roof. "Don't you know how serious that is?"

I don't think he did, or that the asbestos in his clothing put me at risk as well, when I washed the clothes he wore home. Asbestos, in both its forms chrysotile and amphibole, breaks down in tiny particles when disturbed that can be ingested either through inhaling or swallowing them. The particles are impossible for the human body to remove, and instead burrow throughout the body until they reach the tough mesothelial lining of the abdomen and chest cavity. Here they sit, little ticking time bombs, accumulating nearly-indetectable scar tissue for decades - until the tissue starts developing cancers.

Mesothelioma, caused by these little cysts, is incurable, painful, and debilitating. Average lifespan upon diagnosis: about 18 months.

Asbestos and 9/11: A Future Holocaust

The Twin Towers of the New York World Trade Center were built before federal and state legislation made using asbestos in construction illegal. Back then, it made sense to coat building infrastructure with asbestos; the substance is a wonderful fireproofer, and it was inexpensive and easy to apply. Later, the cost of removing the asbestos was estimated to be close to the cost of constructing the buildings to begin with. Because asbestos, when left alone, is harmless, the decision was made to leave it in place.

Unfortunately, a team of terrorists had different ideas about that. When the planes crashed into the World Trade Centers, they set off a chain of events that put anyone in lower Manhattan at risk. In the collapse, asbestos was powdered; much of the smoke we all remember seeing pouring down the streets was particulates, including asbestos, from the walls and infrastructure.

There is no way to tell how many thousand New Yorkers were exposed to this deadly cloud. It is fairly certain, though, if they were within range of the smell - called indescribable and unpleasant by many and lingering for days in the air - they were exposed. Certainly all the rescue workers were exposed, and probably their support teams; they were digging directly in the debris. In addition, anyone who came in contact with the dusty clothing of those who fled Manhattan that day, or the clothes of rescue workers, was likely exposed.

We do know that, in tests done shortly after the collapse, several square miles of New York were found to be heavily exposed to the dust. In places, asbestos content was measured at 4%, incredibly high when you consider how little asbestos needs to be ingested to cause mesothelioma.

Our Aftermath

The exposure to asbestos during and after 9/11 was unavoidable. Rescue workers would have walked into fire to save anyone who was left alive for the days immediately afterward, and of course the workers in Manhattan were there whether they wanted to be there or not. The EPA downplayed the dangers of the asbestos and other materials in the air, and they may have been correct; knowing the true extent of the danger would have almost certainly made the crisis worse.

Still, today all the survivors of 9/11 need to be aware of the asbestos dangers, and ensure that it's documented in their medical records. In the future, we may be able to screen for asbestos damage and perhaps remove some cysts before mesothelioma starts. In addition, it's possible that some harsh lawsuits could be filed in a few years when cases start turning up.

Who would be liable? Al Qaeda and its backers - many of whom are Saudi oil millionaires. The lawsuits will be complex and cross international borders, and will assuredly take decades to resolve. It will be many years indeed before we are able to put the horrors of 9/11 completely behind us - or to truly know the death count of that horrible day.