"Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog:
by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
The largest study yet of lung problems among 9/11 rescue workers shows bad news. "Nearly 70 percent of the rescue and cleanup workers who toiled in the dust and fumes at ground zero have had trouble breathing, and many will probably be sick for the rest of their lives," reports Amy Westfeldt. The study, conducted by the Mount Sinai Medical Center, monitored the health of nearly 16,000 ground zero workers. The volunteers who dug through the rubble in search of survivors inhaled dust laden with asbestos, pulverized concrete, mercury and toxins that will leave many of them chronically sick for the rest of their lives.
This tragedy happened because the same government officials who struck heroic poses following America’s worst terrorist attack betrayed the real heroes of the day — the construction workers, police, firefighters and everyday citizens who rushed to the scene and tried to help. This is a topic that we wrote about in our 2004 book, Banana Republicans. As volunteers dug through the rubble, they received assurances — now proven false — that the air in which they worked was safe to breathe. . ."
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