Just days before the 5th anniversary of the September 11th tragedy, Mt. Sinai Medical Center released a health report on the variety of illnesses suffered by rescue workers and city residents who were present at the scene. A class-action lawsuit has been filed against NYC by 8,000 of these workers who blame the toxic atmosphere and lack of health warnings from city officials for the onset of cancers, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases developed after exposure to the site.

The toxic metals and particles floating in the air above the pile of rubble that day are the same toxic elements found in cigarette smoke -- and these particles became deeply embedded in rescue workers and volunteers lungs. A special warning has been issued to those present at the site to now quit smoking, to avoid making their symptoms worse.

NY senator-D Hillary Clinton, along with other state representatives, are urging more federal funding for health care for these individuals. The new study has also helped establish new guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of 9/11 related illnesses. As many of the volunteers and crisis workers now live in other areas of the country, the guidelines provide much needed understanding of their ailments to unaware doctors.

A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, July 5, 2006 issue, confirms children exposed to radioactive iodine and cesium from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster suffer higher rates of thyroid cancer. The higher the dosage at the time of the accident, the greater the chances they have, or will, develop thyroid cancer. Columbia University in New York researchers, who conducted the study, state that understanding the exposure to radiation is significant, because radioactive iodine is frequently used in medicine.

For additional information, here are past posts we have published regarding the Chernobyl nuclear disaster cancer risks and low-level nuclear radiation increases in cancer:

• TORCH: the other report on Chernobyl
• Greenpeace: Chernobyl cancer deaths grossly underestimated
• Tooth Fairy Project: low level radiation link to cancer

The Columbia University in New York researchers conclude with the statement, "We estimate that 75 percent of the thyroid cancer cases would have been avoided in the absence of radiation."

Compared to cancer rates in England and other parts of Wales, young women under 50 years of age living in the vicinity of the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station in north Wales are diagnosed with breast cancer at a rate 15 times higher than the national averages.

For all other cancers, the rate is double was it is in other communities. The power plant is shut down but the effects from the radioactive waste are still being felt in cancer diagnosis.

Earlier this week, Greenpeace and 52 scientists issued a study stating that the long-term cancer effects of the Chernobyl disaster have been grossly underestimated by the International Atomic Energy Agency Chernobyl Forum, and released an independent report highlighting the grim realities. In another study, called The Other Report on Chernobyl, known as the TORCH study, two British scientists report that 20 years after the nuclear explosion, in what is referred to as the world's worst industrial accident, leukemia, breast cancers, bladder cancers, and kidney cancers in people exposed to the radiation fallout continue to be diagnosed in countries as far away as the UK.

Torch claims that more than half of the fallout from the explosion landed outside Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, contaminating about 34 per cent of the UK's surface. It reveals that there are still restrictions on 374 farms covering 750 square kilometers and 200,000 sheep in the UK. The Other Report on Chernobyl, TORCH, is a 91 page study available online as a PDF document. Its comprehensive information, including an explanation of why the figures have been downplayed, makes for a compelling read. We live on a very small planet, and what affects one area of our planet will eventually have an affect on other parts of the planet. The winds and weather patterns carried the Chernobyl power plant disaster worldwide.

"There are two compelling reasons why this tragedy must not be forgotten. First, if we forget Chernobyl, we increase the risk of more technological and environmental disasters in the future. Second, more than seven million of our fellow human beings do not have the luxury of forgetting. They are still suffering every day." -- Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General 2000