Toxic Dust Death Added to Official 9/11 Homicide Toll

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Felicia Dunn-Jones worked at the New York Trade Towers as a civil rights attorney for the Department of Education. Immediately following the September 11th attacks, she and her fellow workers were surrounded by a toxic dust cloud containing asbestos, dioxin, benzene, and several other noxious pollutants as they ran for safety.

She became ill almost immediately, suffering from a nagging cough that grew persistently worse, until she abruptly stopped breathing and died on February 10th, 2002.

A federal victims’ compensation fund awarded the family of Dunn-Jones $2.6 million in 2004, but until yesterday the New York City medical examiner’s office claimed there was not enough conclusive evidence to connect her death to the dust from 9/11.

However, Charles Hirsch, chief medical examiner for the city of New York, released a statement to the press this week in which he stated, "Accumulating evidence indicates that in some persons exposure to WTC dust has caused sarcoidosis or an inflammatory reaction indistinguishable from sarcoidosis. It is likely, with certainty beyond a reasonable doubt, that exposure to WTC dust…was contributory to [Dunn-Jones’] death."

Sarcoidosis is an unusual, incapacitating illness which causes lesions on the lungs.

The statement released by the medical examiner’s office is significant in that it is the first case in New York officially linking a death to toxin exposure from the World Trade Center dust. Last year a medical examiner in New Jersey determined that the death of a police detective, James Zadroga, had been directly related to his exposure of toxic dust at the WTC site. The two cases are the only deaths thus far to be certified as related to the dust.

Dunn-Jones’ death has now been declared a homicide, and she has been added to the list of 2,750 victims of the 9/11 attacks. Her husband, Joe Jones, told reporters at CBS News, "It’ll be an honor. We feel she always deserved to be on that list."

Scientists explain the dust plume that rose up and covered virtually everything for blocks after the twin tower collapse was made up of many caustic pollutants, some of it "as corrosive as drain cleaner," according to a U.S. Geological survey. And while rescue workers at the Pentagon were required to use respirators, those in New York were not, and some only had paper masks to protect their mouths and noses.

Some New York City politicians who have been urging more study into the toxic after-effects of the WTC collapse, and better care for ill rescue workers, feel vindicated by the recent reversal by the medical examiner. U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), told the press, "Sadly, we have known that Felicia is not alone and that others have died from ailments caused by 9/11. I hope that the medical examiner is no longer in denial about the trade center dust. Dr. Hirsch must review the cases of other 9/11 heroes, who, like Felicia, died in the prime of their lives."

The father of police detective James Zadroga, who had logged more than 500 hours at the ground zero site, told reporters that his son also died of sarcoidosis. Joseph Zadroga told the Associated Press, "I think that anybody [who] passes as a result of 9/11 should be listed on the wall. They’re going to be adding to that wall for the next 20 years."