20 years later, fallout from WTC dust cloud grows
NEW YORK — The dust cloud caught Carl Sadler near the East River, turning his clothes and hair white as he looked for a way out of Manhattan after escaping from his office at the World Trade Center.
Gray powder billowed through the open windows and terrace door of Mariama James’s downtown apartment, settling, inches thick in places, into her rugs and children’s bedroom furniture.
Barbara Burnette, a police detective, spat the soot from her mouth and throat for weeks as she worked on the burning rubble pile without a protective mask.
Today, all three are among more than 111,000 people enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, which gives free medical care to people with health problems potentially linked to the dust.
Two decades after the Twin Towers’ collapse, people are still coming forward to report illnesses that might be related to the attacks.
To date, the U.S. has spent $11.7 billion on care and compensation for those exposed to the dust — about $4.6 billion more than it gave to the families of people killed or injured on Sept. 11, 2001. More than 40,000 people have gotten payments from a government fund for people with illnesses potentially linked to the attacks.
Scientists still can’t say for certain how many people developed health problems as a result of exposure to the tons of pulverized concrete, glass, asbestos, gypsum and whatever else fell on Lower Manhattan when the towers collapsed.
Many people enrolled in the health program have conditions common in the general public, like skin cancer, acid reflux or sleep apnea. In most situations, there is no test that can tell whether someone’s illness is related to the Trade Center dust, or a result of other factors, like smoking, genetics or obesity.
Over the years, that has led to some friction between patients who are absolutely sure they have an illness connected to 9/11, and doctors who have doubts.
“Most people thought I was crazy back then,” Mariama James said.
She initially had a hard time persuading doctors that the chronic ear infections, sinus issues and asthma afflicting her children, or her own shortness of breath, had anything to do with the copious amounts of dust she had to clean out of her apartment.
Years of research have produced partial answers about 9/11 health problems like hers. The largest number of people enrolled in the federal health program suffer from chronic inflammation of their sinus or nasal cavities or from reflux disease, a condition that can cause symptoms including heartburn, sore throat and a chronic cough.
The reasons for this are not well understood. Doctors say it could be related to their bodies getting stuck in cycles of chronic inflammation initially triggered by irritation from the dust.
Post-traumatic stress disorder has emerged as one of the most common, persistent health conditions, afflicting about 12,500 people enrolled in the health program.
About 9% of firefighters exposed to the dust still report a persistent cough, according to fire department research. About 22% report experiencing shortness of breath. About 40% still have chronic sinus problems or acid reflux.
Nearly 24,000 people exposed to trade center dust have gotten cancer over the past two decades.