"ground zero is still killing people long after 911"

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As quoted in the most recent post on this memorial for a victim from her domestic partner, referring to the spike in lung and cancer diseases among workers at the site. There were a slew of stories on this recently and frankly the more I read of them the more wretched and horrifying this all sounds.

The Mount Sinai study which brought this to full attention, though scattered reports had been circulating for some time.

Details on some of the Congressional hearings done in response.

Hmmm.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 05:21 (nineteen years ago)

not to mention all the LJ postings i've seen from NYC folks, talking about that weird cough thing they had for a bit

suffice it to say, silica dust is a bitch, yo

― kingfish prætor (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 05:35 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah Im imagining all that fibro plasterboard, and pulverized glass, and shattered neon tubing, all in the air. Let alone the burning jet fuel fumes. It has to have done a lot of nasty things to anyone there's lungs and ENT.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 05:37 (nineteen years ago)

I like how Bloomberg apparently tried to initially brush off the report. O RLY?, as they say.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:01 (nineteen years ago)

i used to eat silica packets as a kid

― mr. brojangles (sanskrit), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:02 (nineteen years ago)

Yes but you didn't snort them, see.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:03 (nineteen years ago)

i watched some of 9/11 toxic legacy the other night. i hadn't really thought about this, but wow, scary, very real stuff.

― rrrobyn, the situation (rrrobyn), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:11 (nineteen years ago)

it's good that Hillary looked out for afflicted workers:
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0430,lagorio,55413,1.html

but more needs to be done. also, a nyt piece from a week ago:
http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/06/nyregion/06health.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26pagewantedQ3Dprint&OP=6438c2b4Q2FYoQ3C3YLN0mbNN86Y6FFCYFfYFCYdQ23bQ3CkhNdYFCgQ3CQ5C48gUg8P4

― mr. brojangles (sanskrit), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:15 (nineteen years ago)

suffice it to say, silica dust is a bitch, yo

FEEL THE EMPATHY

― Young Fresh Danny D (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:20 (nineteen years ago)

My old dance teacher is VERY health-conscious and strict w/ diet & lifestyle and has never smoked...and last year was diagnosed with a form of throat cancer that's virtually unknown among non-smokers; radiation and surgery have cleaned it out but at a cost of a year and a lot of misery and accelerated aging (she never looked so old before :( ). And her employer required her to go back to work downtown after 9/11.

― Laurel (Laurel), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:26 (nineteen years ago)

FEEL THE EMPATHY

damn right, it just pulses out

― kingfish prætor (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:39 (nineteen years ago)

what ultimately scares me about this - while still boggled by how there were so many holes, so many screw-ups in the process of 9/11 cleanup - is the health care system's short-sightedness, and that it is systemic and thereby all the more frustrating. not only are there workers who aren't getting treatment because they don't have insurance, but there are workers who will only get proper treatment for a few years. and if they get to the point where they can't work, they're screwed; their entire lives will fall apart because of their illness.

and what it is, is that poor health is not merely a circumstance, bad luck, or something for which the individual is entirely responsible. these attitudes underlie our discourse on illness and health care, and there's something screwed up about that. health is an environmental factor - by which i mean, it's a part of everything we do, not just the choices we make but the choices everyone (individuals, researchers, doctors, drug companies, governments, etc etc) surrounding us makes.

not instantly identifying ground zero as a toxic mess and putting fully enforced precautions in place shows how far from true preventative health care the system is. continuing to operate on a problem->cure basis in light of the 9/11 illness fallout (and other incidents, obv, but this one is huge, esp media-wise) seems ridiculous, but i fear that this deeper issue may get lost in the blame game and the money allocation arguments.

part of what the documentary said to me was that the system doesn't work, but changing the system isn't even the focus right now. which is frustrating.

― rrrobyn, the situation (rrrobyn), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:43 (nineteen years ago)

that's awful, laurel.

there is an irony (that is a reality) in here about the deep, long-term harm of things we can't see or render invisible through focusing on and maintaining the appearance of "strength" (getting back to work, getting the stock exchange open, going about life as if nothing gigantic and tragic has happened, no one can see our pain, so we are okay, etc.) But the harm and the pain come out, clearly, and have to be dealt with, not swept away again (as so often happens.)

― rrrobyn, the situation (rrrobyn), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 14:51 (nineteen years ago)

remember how that shit smelled? bbq plastic, ugh.

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 15:26 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, that was one of the foulest smells i've ever experienced. torched plastic and gasoline with a soupçon of asbestos. nasty.

― mr. brojangles (sanskrit), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 15:54 (nineteen years ago)

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