The World Trade Center Disaster Site Litigation has begun the process of compensating thousands of 9/11 first responders. The sudden crisis has left countless people in its wake who were not present for the attack. Men and women who faced the scene to provide assistance are now suffering illness and disease from their actions.

The Trade Center buildings in New York were built with over four hundred tons of asbestos material. When the buildings collapsed, the material deconstructed, forcing the toxic asbestos fibers into the air. Thousands of local and national servicemen and women and volunteers flooded the area to help, being exposed to the fibers.

Asbestos fibers can cause several severe respiratory conditions including asbestosis, pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma is the more common of mesothelioma cancers. This disease affects lung lining when asbestos fibers begin a mutation process in lung lining tissue. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a similar cancer affecting lining tissue of other abdominal cavities, such as the lining of the heart. Both mesothelioma cancers are characterized by irregularly patterned tumors which develop over many decades. There is currently no known curative treatment for mesothelioma cancers. Once diagnosed, patients’ average life expectancy is eighteen months.

Due to its long latency period and the high number of patients exposed during their working years, it is typical that diagnosis is found well beyond mid-life. To date, only one individual has survived mesothelioma in the US. This case was diagnosed and treated while the patient was in her twenties. However, many patients have no idea they were ever exposed to asbestos until they have been diagnosed much later in life.

Currently, 9/11 first responders know of their exposure to asbestos and the associated risks.  The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensations Act is a pending modification of the Public Health Act. This Act would provide 9/11 workers with monitoring and treatment for diseases and mental health issues brought on by their time at the World Trade Center Site.

There are 10,563 plaintiffs involved in the World Trade Center Disaster Site Litigation for compensation. The settlement agreement has been signed by 95% percent of these individuals, moving the case forward. A group of administrators will be deciding the payment for each case through the next months—splitting the total $700 million by severity of injury and potential risk of exposure time.

Charles Valentino filed the first suit of its kind in Meigs County Ohio earlier this month. After his wife’s death in August 2009, following her short battle with mesothelioma, Mr. Valentino filed a wrongful death litigation against twenty-six companies he believes to be responsible for the death of his wife. According to My Daily Sentinel report of November 1, 2010, the litigation claims the twenty-six companies are guilty of “liability for her illness and death, breach of warranty, product liability, conspiracy, concealment and willful misconduct.”

Mrs. Valentino died just two months after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lung lining. In the US mesothelioma is most often associated with exposure to the toxic chemical asbestos. Used commonly prior to the 1980’s as a building material, fire deterrent and additive in many manufacturing processes, asbestos is now a recognized health threat.

Once the fibers of asbestos are inhaled and enter the lungs, a mutation begins in the cells of the lung lining called the mesothelium. The cancer grows aggressively in irregular patterns. There is no known cure for mesothelioma. Due to the short and painful life expectancy typically following diagnoses, many mesothelioma patients are choosing palliative treatment to manage the pain. The more aggressive approach may include surgery and chemotherapy.

Mrs. Valentino was allegedly exposed to the toxic asbestos fibers during her employment at several hospitals in the Columbus area thirty to forty years ago. She worked in at least three, including St. Anthony’s Hospital, Mount Carmel Health and St. Ann’s Hospital. Like Mrs. Valentino whose exposure is presumed to have taken place in the sixties and seventies, mesothelioma patients have a long development time before signs and symptoms occur. A latency period of several decades is not uncommon.

Mr. Valentino has named Allied Corporation as the primary defendant; the successor company to Bendix-Corp based in Cleveland. The suit states Mrs. Valentino, “was exposed to asbestos, products containing asbestos or machinery using asbestos products,” during her hospital employment.

Mrs. Valentino is one of about three thousand Americans to die of mesothelioma each year. Like many other cases, the fault often lies in negligence and misconduct on the part of an employer. Without a known cure and with the long development period of mesothelioma, it is often too late to prepare for loss or financial security for families left behind.