25 Years After 9/11: By the Numbers
Hundreds of thousands of responders, workers, residents, students and others were critically impacted by the terrorist attacks. They were exposed to the dust, smoke and debris that spread through Lower Manhattan and beyond. Since then, enrollment in federal health programs has continued to rise, cancers and other illnesses have continued to be certified, and new claims continue to reach the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.
later, that number
tells only part of the story.
170,000 Pages of Unearthed Records
“Now, close to 25 years later, more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day itself.”
— Mayor Zohran Mamdani, September 8, 2026
Various government officials repeatedly reassured lower Manhattan residents, workers, students and teachers, and visitors that the air was safe. Then-EPA Administrator Christie Whitman’s public declaration that the air was “safe to breathe” came before any government test of indoor air quality was conducted.
Mamdani also said more people are eligible for federal health care and compensation than are currently enrolled, including residents who lived near the site and never received outreach, and people who have since moved out of New York.
People were exposed
Twenty-Five Years Later, the Health Toll Is Still Growing
The health effects related to 9/11 toxic exposure did not present all at once. Respiratory illnesses were among the first conditions to emerge. As the years passed, cancers with longer latency periods began to surface and be connected to 9/11 exposure.
Now, 25 years after the attacks, the federal program created to monitor and treat the 9/11 community is still adding members, and new cancer certifications continue to climb.
More than doubled since the program was formalized in 2011.
~2,000 new members joined in a single quarter of 2026.
members have had a cancer diagnosis certified as 9/11-related, as of 2026.
10,393 new cancer certifications in the year ending June 30, 2026 — roughly 28 new cases each day.
of enrolled WTCHP members have been certified for at least one 9/11- related condition.
When Congress passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to create the WTCHP, cancer was initially excluded as a covered illness, due to a perceived lack of long-term peer-reviewed evidence at the time. It was added in 2012, after advocates fought for it and a study showed elevated cancer rates among firefighters who worked at Ground Zero.
“Twenty-five years later, we must face a hard truth: September 11th was not a one-day event. The toxic dust cloud of Ground Zero and the grueling recovery work at sites… created a persistent environmental catastrophe that continues to claim and alter lives.”
— Craig Devoe, MD, system head of gastrointestinal medical oncology at the Northwell Cancer Institute.
What physicians are seeing
Northwell Health
“When officials declared the air ‘safe to breathe,’ we knew that couldn’t be true — we saw the dust, smelled the fumes, and understood the environmental catastrophe in front of us.”
— Dr. Jacqueline Moline, Director, Northwell WTC Health Program
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811new 9/11-certified cancer cases were documented over a 42-month period.
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132new 9/11-certified cancer cases were documented in the first half of 2026 alone.
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30%of Northwell’s WTC Health Program enrollees have battled cancer
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2xlung cancer cases have doubled within Northwell’s WTC program over the past five years.
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2,445cancer cases among 1,489 patients had been documented as of June 2026.
Mount Sinai
“I don’t know if we’ve hit our peak yet. These cancers can take 20, 30, 40 years to develop.”
Dr. Raja Flores, chairman of thoracic surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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27000first responders receive monitoring and care through Mount Sinai’s WTC Clinical Center of Excellence
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25,000+responders nationwide have been diagnosed with cancer — along with more than 27,000 survivors
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13%lower risk of death for responders enrolled in the WTC Health Program, per a 2026 study of more than 28,000 responders
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Leading conditionsCancer, chronic rhinosinusitis, asthma, GERD, and PTSD. Non-melanoma skin, prostate, breast, melanoma, and lymphoma are among the most frequently covered cancers.
NYU Langone Health’s WTC Environmental Health Center
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2.5×increase in certified cancers among WTC survivors over the previous five years (May 2026 peer-reviewed analysis)
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#1 conditionCancer has now overtaken obstructive airway disease as the most common condition among WTC EHC members — breast, prostate, lung, thyroid, and lymphoma are the five most common, excluding skin cancer
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~22,000survivors provided care since 2011
Stony Brook Medicine
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12,000+Long Island-based responders followed by the program
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~3×the rate of lung cancer among responders with heavier Ground Zero exposure, compared to those minimally exposed — more than 10 years after 9/11
This Was Never Only a First-Responder Story
“9/11 benefits are only for firefighters and police.”
UNTRUEThe most persistent misconception about 9/11 benefits is that they are only available for firefighters and police. That is untrue. The people affected include:
Of the 88,539 members enrolled in the WTCHP, 14,767 live outside the New York City Metropolitan Area.
South of Houston Street
If you lived, worked, or attended school south of Houston Street in Manhattan, between September 11, 2001, and July 31, 2002, you may qualify for benefits regardless of where you live today.
The VCF Is Still Receiving Claims 25 Years Later
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) is not winding down. Twenty-five years after the attacks, it continues to compensate eligible members of the 9/11 community while new claims arrive every month.
new claims continue to be filed each month — about 25 new claims every day.
The Deadline Is 2090
The VCF will accept claims until October 1, 2090. This means that someone who was born on September 11, 2001 could still file a claim into their late 80s if they are diagnosed with a 9/11-related illness. This deadline is less of a bureaucratic caution and more of a forecast about how long medical experts expect these illnesses to continue being diagnosed.
Registering
Preserves your right to file a claim later — even if you are not sick now.
Filing a claim
Registering with the VCF is not the same as filing a claim.
dont’ miss it
The registration deadlines are real, and missing one can end your claim before it starts.
If You Were Living or Working in the Toxic Exposure Zone on or After 9/11, We Can Help
Pitta & Baione LLP was founded in 2016 to represent and help the survivors of the attacks on September 11th. Now, a decade later, most of our work involves representing people whose illnesses surfaced years, or decades, after the dust settled. A substantial share of these survivors are not first responders; they are the residents, office workers, students, teachers and business owners who were simply going about their daily lives in lower Manhattan.
The air was not safe to breathe.
If you were living and working where the air was not safe to breathe, we can help you. Contact us to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case. You may be entitled to benefits and compensation for your 9/11-related condition.
