According to the official figures, the death toll was 2,752. These were the
highly visible victims of the bombing. There are, however, at least two other
sources of death. One consists of road deaths. There is a persuasive case that
in the period from 1 October to 31 December 2001 there were 725 driving
fatalities linked to the bombing and a further 400 to 500 deaths between 1
January and 31 March 2006. People traveled by road rather than air out of fear
of flying and the delay and inconvenience of air travel brought on by increased
security arrangements at airports.
422
The other cause of death is toxicity.
423
Analysis of the dust cloud caused by
the collapse of the buildings found that it contained numerous toxins –
pulverised cement, glass fibres, asbestos, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,
polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated furans and dioxins. As the
cloud spread it covered lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, “affecting between
250,000 and 400,000 people”.
424
There is now evidence of health problems and deaths from this toxic fallout.
The most affected group consisted of the rescue workers. Preliminary findings
by Mount Sinai Hospital in New York of a small sample of the 16,000 workers
and volunteers found several significant things. (i) Almost three-quarters had
new or worsening respiratory problems while working on site. (ii) Half of them
had symptoms that lasted at least eight months after they stopped their rescue
work. (iii) Thirty one per cent of people who never smoked had abnormal
breathing tests, compared to 13 per cent of the general population. (iv) Forty
40 per cent had new or worsening heartburn or indigestion problems.
But the health problem may not be confined to rescue workers. The New York
City health department performed a study on 70,000 residents, students and
workers in lower Manhattan. This study found three detrimental health
outcomes. (i) Almost half had developed new or worsening sinus or nasal
respiratory problems. (ii) Forty two per cent had shortness of breath. (iii)
Thirty eight per cent had throat irritations or wheezing.
One of the rescue workers, John Sferanzo, has formed a group, Unsung
Heroes Helping Heroes, in an attempt to help responders with health problems.
Sferanzo knows of 24 people who worked in the rescue and clean up and have
since
died. Sferanzo, an ironworker, was a volunteer rescuer. He was teamed
with a police officer and a search and rescue dog. When the dog picked up a
human scent, Sferanzo would delve into the wreckage searching for a survivor
amidst the caverns and holes in the rubble. Often all he would find was an arm
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422
Blalock, Simon and Kadiyali (February 2005)
423
Coultan (2006)
424
Coultan (2006)
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