Thousands More Will Die: The Effects of 9-11 Continue to Take Its Toll

The death toll resulting from the tragedies of September 11, 2001 continue to climb. The thousands of innocent people who died in the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and on United Flight # 93 in the Pennsylvania skies were only the beginning of what will be a long, painful knoll... Thousands more will become sick and many will die.

Survivors of 9-11 are now showing up with incurable, and often deadly diseases, as a result of the toxins they inspired when working to save lives in the rubble at the foot of the Twin Towers, and in the surrounding city as they went about their daily lives. Many are now suffering from pulmonary diseases caused by the dust and asbestos that was released into the air when those Towers crumbled. And now the "survivors", too, are dying.

When asbestos fibers fly through the air and they are inhaled, they lodge in the lungs where they drill their way through the tissue of the respiratory system, causing irreparable damage. A single fiber can destroy the lungs, causing calcification and the formation of plaques. Over time, the lungs harden and a condition known as "asbestosis" is created. This condition causes considerable respiratory distress. And if the victim is lucky, that's all it causes. However, that single fiber may not stop at that level. It can irritate the system so severely that it forms a rare form of cancer known as "mesothelioma."

Mesothelioma is invariably lethal. There is no cure. And, it is generally believed that ONLY asbestos exposure can lead to it. Fortunately, under normal conditions, this type of cancer is extremely rare and takes a long time (usually 30 years) to consume the individual. However, in the case of the 9-11 survivors, we are seeing a rapid development of this deadly disease and patients have already died from the condition only 5 years later. The load of asbestos that these survivors were exposed to far exceeded the usual dose found in chronic cases of exposure such as that found in construction workers.