Lessons from 9/11 survivors’ exposure to toxic dust and the chronic health conditions that followed

From acute to chronic conditions after the initial “acute” health problems that 9/11 responders faced, they soon began experiencing a wave of chronic diseases that continue to affect them 20 years later

The 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York resulted in the loss of 2,753 people in the Twin Towers and surrounding area. After the attack, more than 1,00,000 responders and recovery workers from every U.S. state — along with some 400,000 residents and other workers around ground zero — were exposed to a toxic cloud of dust that fell as a ghostly, thick layer of ash and then hung in the air for more than three months. The World Trade Center dust plume, or WTC dust, consisted of a dangerous mixture of cement dust and particles, asbestos and a class of chemicals called persistent organic pollutants. These include cancer-causing dioxins and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, which are byproducts of fuel combustion. The dust also contained heavy metals that are known to be poisonous to the human body and brain, such as lead — used in the manufacturing of flexible electrical cables — and mercury, which is found in float valves, switches and fluorescent lamps. The dust also contained cadmium, a carcinogen toxic to the kidneys that is used in the manufacturing of electric batteries and pigments for paints.