WTC Coroners to Check for Asbestos

September 21, 2006 - Under new medical guidelines released on September 19, medical examiners performing autopsies on people suspected of dying from a Ground Zero-related medical problem will be required to check for asbestos, metals and pulverized glass.

According to a report in the New York Post, the new World Trade Center-death guidelines also propose creation of a "tissue banking" storage system - enabling medical experts to re-test old specimens years after the fact to more authoritatively rule on whether a patient's death was WTC-related when and if new testing techniques emerge.

Written by city and federal health experts, the 8-page guideline will become the Bible for those coroners performing autopsies on the dozens of first responders who are dying from illnesses believe to be linked to their work at the World Trade Center site.  Hundreds of these workers have already developed cancer and many have died within the five years since the attacks. 

A recent study conducted by Mt. Sinai Hospital showed that nearly 70 percent of 9,442 Ground Zero workers suffer already from breathing problems. Mt. Sinai’s report also pointed out the fact that 37 percent of the patients seen there in the past year have "persistent mental-health consequences related to the World Trade Center."