Mesothelioma Death from 9/11 Signals Start of Things to Come

Malignant mesothelioma has become the latest deadly cancer linked directly to the rescue, recovery and cleanup efforts following the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York City in 2001. The long-running threat has come to fruition. Eighteen years after Manhattan was engulfed in the asbestos-laced, toxic cloud of dust — caused primarily by the World Trade Center destruction — the first death from pleural mesothelioma attributed to 9/11 has been recorded. Nick Ursta, 52, from the southwestern part of Pennsylvania, died after a year-long battle with the rare cancer. Ursta, a construction worker and fireman by trade, was part of the White Oak EMS team that arrived in New York City the day after the attack to assist in recovery efforts. Margaret Ursta, his wife who also assisted at ground zero, told the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette that oncologists treating him at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center attributed his death to the intense asbestos exposure during 9/11 cleanup and recovery efforts. “I’m not surprised at all,” oncologist Dr. Craig Stevens, Beaumont Cancer Center in Royal Oak, Michigan, told The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. “I’m sure there will be more. It was a known risk as soon as the buildings fell.” Click Image to Open A Look into the Future Ursta’s death may signal the start of things to come. Mesothelioma is caused primarily by the inhalation or ingestion of microscopic asbestos fibers, which were part of the toxic mixture unleashe...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news