Developing Health Risks Caused By September 11, 2001 School: Las
Cruces YWiC Area of Science: Environmental Science Proposal:
When the World Trade Centers were attacked on September 11,
2001, many people risked their lives to save victims in the
burning, collapsing buildings and toxins have taken a toll on
the health of survivors. These toxins (asbestos, benzene, and
particulate glass) have been shown to cause lung disease,
cancer, and numerous health problems. We are interested in
studying this problem because the 9/11 attacks changed our
nation and forever scarred victims and their families. We will
use computer modeling to demonstrate how toxins in the dust
caused diseases to occur in a higher rate among first responders
as opposed to diseases occurring in responders not directly
exposed to the 9/11 attacks. We hope to show a clear correlation
between the event and the health effects observed. We plan to
use NetLogo to model a control population with normal rates of
diseases and compare those to the rates