When fire, police, and emergency personnel responded to Ground Zero on 9/11, few anticipated the horrendous disaster they would face that day and throughout the coming weeks. Even now, eight years later, the suffering continues as emergency workers face current or future conditions such as breathing problems, cancer, and mesothelioma.
Most of us are familiar with the tragic events of that day, but few of us know that the Twin Towers were insulated and fireproofed with asbestos and other toxins that were widely used in construction throughout the 20th century.
Today, many of those that responded to that emergency are now suffering a variety of health issues. Mike Valentin, who was a New York Police Detective that worked at Ground Zero, is now unable to work because he has an inoperable and terminal tumor near his trachea and aorta that began as lymphoma. Valentin attributes his cancer to asbestos and other toxins he was exposed to when the towers went down.
Before 9/11, Valentin was a healthy man and typically ran 6 to 8 miles a day. Now, his health and that of many that served with him that day is ruined.
Valentin has founded the 9/11 Police Foundation to “provide support, education, and other forms of charitable relief to police officers with an injury or disability associated with the attacks of 9/11, and their families.”
Because any level of asbestos exposure has the potential to cause mesothelioma, it is possible that some cases of mesothelioma may develop in those that worked at Ground Zero or were exposed to the asbestos that blew in thick clouds across the city as the towers came down.
Tags: asbestos, mesothelioma
