While America remembered the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington DC, President of the United States, George W. Bush asked for our nation to stop for a moment of silence at 8:46 am, the exact time when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Varela’s NJROTC held a flag ceremony until noon and many students wore red, white and blue clothing in their honor. Even though 2,973 people died in these attacks, many forget the people who worked for months at ground zero.

The latest study of rescue workers at the World Trade Center site has found that almost 70 percent developed breathing problems while working there, and many are still suffering years later.

Researchers at Mount Sinai examined close to 12,000 firefighters and policemen during the 21 month period covered by the study. Of those, only 9,500 agreed to allow their results to be published on the site called www.sfgate.com .

The study appeared in the Journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, and found that World Trade Center responders had double the rate of lung abnormalities expected in the US population.

Sixty one percent of the workers that had no breathing problems before Sept 11, 2001, have developed symptoms while working on the site.

According to usatoday.com, an estimated one million tons of dust rained down on the city and the 16-acre ground zero, showering the area with asbestos, carcinogens, concrete, glass fibers, lead and other hazards.

The danger of inhaling or ingesting fiberglass or asbestos is that it is undetectable but cuts through the tissues of a person’s lungs.

“Fiber glass stays in your lungs forever and can even cause cancer,” said Mr. David Thomas, HOSA advisor. He later said that the fiber glass clogs up the lung’s air ways and limits oxygen to the rest of the body.

The study also found that the earlier the workers arrived at the ground zero site after the attack, the worse their symptoms were. And 60 percent of workers still had symptoms by the time they were examined at Mount Sinai. Asthma, chronic sinusitis and mental health problems are also common among those who were first on the scene.

The test on sfgate.com took place between July 2002 and April 2004.

Unfortunately, the long term health effects from working at ground zero are still unknown.

In August, a research of 12,000 firefighters published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine showed that the firefighters that worked at ground zero lost 9% of their lung capacity after a year at the site, 12 times the normal rate of loss that happens as people get older.

BBC news found that seven out of ten ground zero workers have suffered lung problems during or after their work at the site. There is one fatality already linked to the toxins of the site, a New Jersey rescuer that worked at ground zero.