Three Deaths Linked to Ground Zero Toxicitiy

Posted on February 3, 2006

An SFGate.com article says at least three men have died from respiratory ailments with links to the air in the hazardous ground zero environment.

But Robin Herbert, who directs a medical-monitoring program at Mount Sinai Medical Center for more than 14,000 ground zero workers, said "certainly it is not inconceivable" that a person could die of respiratory disease related to Sept. 11.
Karin DeShore said she does not need scientists to tell her what caused the death of her friend Keller, 41. DeShore was a Fire Department captain who took Keller to the trade center on Sept. 11, and barely escaped the south tower's collapse.
"He came back coughing" two days later, she said. Faeth said that Keller told him that he coughed up debris so violently he could barely breathe on Sept. 11, and later developed emphysema.
Keller went home to Levittown on medical leave in March. He died on June 23 of heart disease complicated by bronchitis and emphysema, the Nassau County medical examiner's office said.

The article says the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is tracking 71,000 people that were exposed to the dust and debris at Ground Zero. The article cites an attorney who believes many more will die from exposure to the toxic dust and debris.

David Worby, an attorney representing more than 5,000 plaintiffs suing those who supervised the cleanup over their illnesses, said 21 of his clients have died of Sept. 11-related diseases since mid-2004. He said he was not authorized to release their names, but represented people who toiled at ground zero, at the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island where trade center debris was moved, and at the city morgue.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Worby said. "Many, many more people are going to die from the aftermath of the toxicity."

It is a very sad situation that so many people that helped now have this to deal with and/or worry about.

HEALTH