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Cleanup

Everyone has heard of 9/11, and when you say that term to someone, immediate thoughts of airplanes crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. For others, thoughts of the thousands of lives lost are what they think of. Some think terrorism. Others think about the massive clean up that took place at ground zero.

Most people watched their televisions in shock as the events unfolded on 9/11. Tens of thousands of people were involved, directly or indirectly in the disaster. For many of those affected, even years later, questions still need answering. For the workers, who helped to clean up the incredible destruction, as well as the people who survived and those that lived and worked near the World Trade Center, one of the recurring questions is "Was there asbestos in the building?"

The short reply to this question is, yes, there was asbestos used in the structure of the World Trade Center.

The New York Port authority had planned originally to use 5,000 tons of fireproofing that contained asbestos on the first 40 floors of the buildings. From floors 41 onward, no asbestos was going to be used. An article, which appeared in the New York Times on September 18, 2001, seven days after the attack, said:

"Anticipating a ban (on the use of asbestos in construction in NY), the builders stopped using the materials by the time they reached the 40th floor on the north tower, the first one to go up..." According to a spokesperson for the Port Authority, "more than half of the original asbestos-containing materials were later replaced."

A fact sheet, which was produced by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health states:

"Asbestos was a major material used in the construction of the World Trade Center. That asbestos is a constituent of the dust and debris." An advisor was given to the emergency workers at ground zero that stated they should wear protective clothing and change out of work clothes before going home. It also stated that work clothes should be bagged at work and washed separately from other laundry to prevent asbestos contamination.

For those that helped with the massive clean up of tons of concrete and steel, along with many of other objects, and unfortunately, bodies, the effort took months. Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center was a hollow when they were finished - an empty reminder of the disaster that struck Manhattan.

In that debris, there was asbestos, from the first 40 floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. For the workers, mostly protected from the effects of the dirt, dust and debris by wearing protective clothing, many were unprotected as thousands joined in the massive clean up effort. For those left unprotected during the clean up, and for those that were near the building when it collapsed, and virtually all of New York, asbestos was released into the air during the fall and subsequent clean up - which leaves them susceptible to asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma. For more information about asbestos and the World Trade Center, please see The World Trade Center - Asbestos use in Construction. If you or someone you know was involved in cleanup in the area, read Asbestos Cancer to learn more about the health risks associated with cleanup in the area.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that happens when an individual is exposed to asbestos. The people who contract Mesothelioma are workers who were not warned of the dangers associated with working with asbestos and their families. The only known cause of Mesothelioma is asbestos.

Asbestos fibers are very fine and are easily breathed in. When breathed in, they can lodge into the lining of the heart, lungs or abdomen and cause inflammation, which in some cases, eventually turns to mesothelioma cancer. These asbestos fibers are indestructible and the body can not break them down or get rid of them. All asbestos related diseases, including Mesothelioma are progressive diseases which compromise the immune system and the area where the cancer originates from.

To date, there is no cure for any form of cancer and standard chemotherapy doesn't work to alleviate or shrink the mesothelioma tumors. There is a new drug, called Alimta, which has recently been approved as a chemotherapy drug specifically for pleural mesothelioma. Alimta is usually combined with Cisplatin, another chemotherapy medication, and is found to have some effect on pleural mesothelioma where the patient is not a candidate for surgery.

Mesothelioma is one of the deadliest cancer forms today. For many people who are diagnosed with Mesothelioma, the prognosis is dire - many people perish within the year of being diagnosed. For more information about diagnosing mesothelioma, please see Mesothelioma Diagnosis.

With tragedies such as the World Trade Center, the long term effects of the disaster, including asbestos in the buildings, and the effects on the thousands of people who helped to clean up, is really yet to be known. Mesothelioma takes so long to present as cancer in its victims, it is still not known whether the fall of the twin towers will have a negative impact on the people involved in cleaning, the survivors and the major portion of lower Manhattan that were subjected to the dust and debris in the air from the fall of the twin towers.

If you are experiencing any difficulties post 9/11, it is best to contact a mesothelioma/asbestos attorney to discuss your issues. They will be able to help you come to a decision whether now is the time to act, or to help you get ready for the future and potential illness and diseases, such as Mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, in relation to a potential lawsuit. To learn more, read our section on Your Legal Rights.

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