18 years after September 11, the attack continues to kill lifeguards

Of the 2,977 victims of the September 11, 2001, attack on the Twin Towers, 412 were emergency service agents: firefighters, police and other lifeguards.

But from that moment, 200 other rescuers died because of problems related to this tragedy.

To respiratory diseases add cancer, liver damage, depression and other psychological problems.

Toxic powder

During the attack and after the collapse of the buildings, a large layer of dust floated in the streets surrounding the twin towers, in the so-called zero zone.

Scientists have concluded that it was a toxic cloud because of its high alkalinity for cement.

For hours (more than those recommended by the US Environmental Agency), firefighters sucked the dust that invaded the lungs and even the brains of rescuers.

"Injuries to the lungs are the impact most often caused by exposure to dust and smoke in the World Trade Center," says the Spanish science news agency Sinc Michael Weiden.

Weiden is a scientist from the University of New York and has studied the damage to the respiratory system of New Yorkers as a result of the attack.

Injuries caused by this cause are treated as if it was asthma.

Fatal cancers

But Weiden says that the increased incidence of cancer is the most serious effect in terms of lost lives that affects these workers.

• More than 2,500 people who participated in the 9/11 rescue (police, firefighters, first responders, volunteers) reported having this disease, according to the World Trade Center's health program at Mount Sinai Hospital, which is monitoring more 30,000 first responders.
• A study published in 2011 in the journal The lancet found that firefighters who had worked on 9/11 were 19% more likely to develop cancer than the rest of their clbadmates.
• In 2018, another work published in Jama Oncology He discovered that these veterans are more likely to develop multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer.
• And that year, another job also detected a higher incidence of head and neck cancer among emergency department workers.
• The incidence of thyroid cancer among emergency service workers who have been attacked is also higher, three times higher than that of other citizens.

Psychological suites

There are also psychological consequences. An article published in 2015 showed that up to 12 years after the attack, the incidence of post-traumatic stress among these workers was 7% higher than that of the rest of their colleagues. that of depression, 16.7%; and that of the harmful consumption of alcohol, three percent.

Sandra Morissette, a psychologist at the University of Texas at San Antonio who studied the mental health of 9/11 veterans, said: "Firefighters are exposed to the same traumatic events as civilians, but the nature of their work makes them live -the more often. "

"Despite the high exposure rates to traumatic events, most firefighters do not develop post-traumatic stress," says the psychologist.

This does not mean that the mental health of firefighters who are victims of attacks must be neglected. Morissette believes that it is necessary to "reduce the stigma" that exists around the psychological state ", which could prevent them from seeking the treatment they need."