There has been at least one pulmonary fibrosis death of a New York Police Department officer, and malignant mesothelioma is considered a current risk from those exposed to the environmental hazards. In fact, a 2010 study of 5,000 rescue workers by the Chief Medical Officer at the Office of Medical Affairs in New York City found that 100% of the respondents had some type of lung function impairment of at least 10%. These symptoms presented themselves in the first year or so after the attack and there were little or no improvements after six years. At least 30-40% of the workers reported persistent symptoms, and 20% of the studied groups were on permanent respiratory disability (Grady, 2010). There are a number of legal suits involved in this incident, most focusing on the lack of protection for rescue workers. There are a number of bills in Congress designed to provide health care to responders and survivors of the 9/11 attacks, and a 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund was signed into law on January 2, 2011, allocating $4.2 billion to create the World Trade Center Health Program (Barrett and Bask, 2010). Future incidents could be mitigated with greater safety measures, air quality technology, monitoring of the health of responders, and follow up care. In addition, because of the toxicity that persisted over five months, greater and more robust efforts at clean up and monitoring should be in place to immediately provide information...

Public health services could also suggest that residents wear safety masks, or have a distribution program available (Ground Zero Hazards, 2009).
REFERENCES

Bin Laden Claims Responsibility for 9/11. (October 29, 2004). CBS News WorldWide. Retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story / 2004/10/29 / binladen_message041029.html

Ground Zero Hazards. (March 2009). 911 research. Retrieved from: http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/groundzero/environment.html

Updated 9/11 Report Examines Failure to Protect Citizens. (September 7, 2005). The Sierra Club. Retrieved from: http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0907-05.htm

What Was Found in the Dust. (September 5, 2006). The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/05/nyregion/20060905_HEALTH_GRAPHIC.html

Barrett, T. And Bash, D. (December 22, 2010). CNN Politics. Retrieved from: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-22/politics/911.bill_1_first-responders-funding-votes-house-members?_s=PM:POLITICS

Barry, E. (October 14, 2006). Lost in the Dust of 9/11. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: http://articles.latimes.com/2006/oct/14/nation/na-cleaners14

Grady, D. (April 7, 2010). Lung Function of 9/11 Rescuers Fell, Study Finds. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/nyregion / 08 lung.html?src=m&_r=0