奇速英语

9/11恐怖袭击受害者中罹患癌症人数成倍增长

The number of first responders suffering from cancer after breathing in 9/11 smokes has more than doubled since last year, according to a new report.

Some 1,655 cops, city workers, volunteers and locals exposed to poisonous substances from the collapse of the World Trade Center(WTC) have been diagnosed with the deadly disease, according to Mount Sinai Hospital’s World Trade Center Health Program, which tracks the health of 37,000 first responders. Another 863 firefighters and medical assistants have also fallen ill with various types of cancer since Sept. 11, 2001, the New York Post reported.

The latest findings are more than twice the number of reported cancer cases up to September of last year, when scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said some 1,140 people suffered from WTC-related cancers. “There are more cases out there, because we just know of the people in our government-funded medical programs, not those who have been treated by their private doctors,” has said Dr. Jim Melius, who oversees health programs for 9/11 first responders.

More than 60,270 people have been at risk of deadly diseases after inhaling dust and smokes containing asbestos from the building’s lower columns and benzene from jet fuel. The poisonous substances also include lead from 50,000 computers that had been broken into pieces and mercury from thousands of light bulbs.

“I was a very active guy -- now there’s not much I can do,” said one retired firefighter, who was recently awarded $1.5 million from the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund after falling ill with lung disease and pancreatic cancer, to The Post.

In September 2012, federal authorities added 58 types of cancer to a growing list showing the variety of cancers that first responders have suffered. The most common cases are skin, prostate, thyroid and non-Hodgkins’ lymphoma. The Victim Compensation Fund has received some 1,145 cancer claims as of June 30, The Post reported. More than 880 of those have already been regarded as qualified for compensation while the rest remains under review.