World Trade Center - Mesothelioma & Asbestos Exposure

There is no shortage of information on the collapse of the World Trade Center as it relates to asbestos exposure; entering those key words on any Internet search engine will return over 1.6 million results. That much of lower Manhattan was covered in asbestos dust on 11 September 2001 and continues to be a problem to this day is well-known.

The magnitude and level of exposure become apparent when one realizes that perhaps 70% of the 4,000 "first responders" - police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians - have developed disabling respiratory problems as a result of that day. Mesothelioma, a rare form of asbestos cancer, normally takes anywhere from 20 to 40 years to develop, yet one paramedic who was on the scene is known to have contracted and died of the disease after less than five years.

What is less well known is that concerns about asbestos had been expressed almost forty years ago as the Twin Towers were being constructed.

A "Snowfall of Asbestos"

As the Towers began to rise over Lower Manhattan, "asbestos-laden slurry" was sprayed heavily on the steel beams as a flame retardant. This slurry was known as Monokote - a product of the W.R. Grace Corporation of Libby, Montana. The company marketed it as an "asbestos-free" product, despite the fact that it contained no less than 12% asbestos. The late Dr. Irving Selikoff, a professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, remembered seeing "snowfalls of asbestos-containing material" coming down from the construction site. Based on his reports, the New York City Department of Air Resources issued a ban on the use of asbestos sprays in construction on 13 May 1970 - but not before almost 5000 tons of Monokote had been used.

W.R. Grace Fights Back

The recently-established EPA issued the same ban on the federal level on 4 July 1973, which was overturned in the early 1990s for no "official" reason. Eager to preserve its profits, the Grace Corporation pressured federal agencies to establish an "acceptable" level of asbestos in such products. That threshold was established at 1%; known as the "Grace Rule," it is still in place today.

In the meantime, while mineral wool and fiberglass largely replaced Monokote in construction above the fortieth floor, it is possible that some asbestos was applied by hand in the core of the Towers after the NYC ban had been in place.

Aftermath

Aside from other issues, the collapse of the World Trade Center towers produced what Ground Zero victims' attorney David Worby calls "the worst toxic site ever." Overall, some 400,000 metric tons of asbestos was released into the air, eventually to rain down on Manhattan in the ensuing days. This was recently demonstrated by the "toxic shirt" worn by an Orthodox Jewish community liaison on 11 September 2001; after five-and-a-half years, lab analysis of the shirt showed a concentration of asbestos 93,000 times that of a normal garment.

What to Do

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) recommends that Manhattan residents continue to clean their dwellings with HEPA vacuums and damp cloths or mops in order to reduce the risk of further exposure, and participate in the EPA cleaning/sampling program.

Those who worked at Ground Zero who have symptoms of respiratory or pulmonary disease should contact a qualified attorney to learn what legal remedies may be available to them.

'World Trade Center - Mesothelioma & Asbestos Exposure' Resources:

Notes

1. MesotheliomaSOS.com. "Experts Still Debating Link Between 9/11 and Mesothelioma" (2007).
2. MesotheliomaSOS.com. "World Trade Center Paramedic Dies of Mesothelioma" (2007).
3. Claudio, Luz. "Environmental Aftermath" (2001).
4. Luz, op. cit.
5. Bowker, Michael. Fatal Deception, p. 71.
6. Luz, op. cit.
7. Ibid.
8. Bowker, pp. 71, 287.
9. Bowker, pp. 71-72.
10. Luz, op. cit.
11. White, Stephen. "Deadliest Shirt In The World" (2006).

Sources

1. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. " Fact Sheet" (Website). Updated 18 January 2007.
   Accessed: 7 August 2007.
2. Bowker, Michael. Fatal Deception. (New York: Touchstone, 2003)
3. Claudio, Luz. "Environmental Aftermath: ‘The World Trade Center Is a Living Symbol of Man's Dedication to World Peace.'" Environmental Health Perspectives 109.11 (2001)
4. MesotheliomaSOS.com. "Fallout: 9/11 and the Risk of Exposure at Ground Zero", http://www.mesotheliomasos.com/jobsitesWTC.php (Online Article and Links).
   Accessed: 7 August 2007.
5. White, Stephen. "Deadliest Shirt In The World; 9/11 Survivor's Toxic Clothing Sparks Cancer Fear." The Mirror (London, U.K.), 17 April 2006, p. 29.