Health

Multiple Myeloma Risk For 9/11 Responders

by Annina Bergman | August 10, 2009 at 09:45 am

236 views | 22 Recommendations | 4 comments

Emergency personnel that responded to the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers may be at higher risk for multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. The findings, which were published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicie, are still very preliminary, but suggest that airborne toxins may have damaged the rescue workers' lungs.

Multiple myeloma normally affects the elderly, but was shown to develop early in the emergency personnel, who were all under 45 years old.

“A person is 10 times more likely to get myeloma when they're 70 than when they're 45,” the lead author of the study says. The result “could turn out to be a statistical fluke and means nothing or it could be the tip of the iceberg and we'll see an increase in the next 10 years,” am expert says, though “it makes biological sense.”

Rescue workers were heavily exposed to a toxic chemical soup released from the fires that raged at the World Trade Center site for three months after 9/11. The chemicals included several known carcinogens, some of which have been linked to a heightened risk of multiple myeloma.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Erik Larson

at 15:37 on August 10th, 2009

"The air is safe to breathe" is one of the many lies that have been told about 9/11. The first responders put their lives in danger to help the victims of the attack, and many New Yorkers relied upon the assurances of Christie Todd Whitman and others who lied about the dust and the hazards. Some experts have predicted the toxins will end up killing more people than died in the attacks. This bill is for the first responders and is working its way thru Congress:

H.R. 847: James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009

This timeline tracks the Environmental Impact of the 9/11 Attacks - interested members of the public can add material to it, or simply send in links to articles

Pythiian1

at 17:11 on August 10th, 2009

I am not at all surprised by this report as there have been numerous other studies on the effects of 9/11 dust, ashes, toxin, and debris on the responders and even volunteers who toiled at the site.

The air around downtown was horrible for months.

beck586 (not verified)

at 09:39 on August 11th, 2009

My husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma when he was 31, in 2006. Although we do live in NYC, he was nowhere near the Trade Center (since his job is in news media, he was actually confined to a television studio practically nonstop following the attacks). His doctor did tell him annecdotally that he has been seeing more cases of younger people with this cancer. Although the air did contain toxins, I wonder if the statistics on this disease happen to be on the verge of having to be revised, independent of this issue.