Press Release

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050127/lath058_1.html

Source: Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation

Thursday January 27, 5:00 am ET

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) today released an alarming research report on the effects of 911. The report concludes that over one hundred thousand individuals present in Manhattan during and immediately after the collapse of the Twin Towers are at risk to become future victims of the terrorist attack.

Using published private and government sources, MARF's report demonstrates that the air was heavily contaminated with asbestos after the collapse. It shows further that many local residents, rescue workers, and tower survivors were exposed to dangerously high doses of asbestos and are thus at risk for developing mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an aggressive, usually-lethal cancer against which current standard treatments have little or no effect.

Evidence of the dangerously high asbestos levels was confirmed yesterday by the New York Times. The Times reported on the findings of environmental consultants involved with the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building on 130 Liberty Street, across the street from Ground Zero. In a comprehensive, detailed study requested by Deutsche Bank to document the extent of contamination in the building, the R.J. Lee Company in 2003 found extremely high levels of asbestos. This study, together with documents from the EPA and New York health authorities, clearly supports MARF's conclusion that thousands of 911 heroic rescue workers and other innocents are now at risk for developing mesothelioma in the next ten to 50 years.

MARF is therefore recommending that Congress take action now to prevent further suffering and death from the terrorists' despicable act. To spur development of effective mesothelioma treatments, MARF is calling on Congress to establish a National Mesothelioma Research and Treatment Program with funding of $28 million per year. MARF's Science Advisory Board and other experts believe that recent developments in experimental treatments and protocols demonstrate that with adequate funding, a cure for this cruel disease is within reach.

Click here for MARF's 911 research report.

MARF is the national nonprofit organization whose mission is to eradicate mesothelioma as a life-ending disease. For more information, see www.marf.org or contact MARF Executive Director Chris Hahn, 805-560-8942, c-hahn@marf.org, or the report's author, MARF Communications Director Klaus Brauch, 714-969-1481, k-brauch@marf.org.