![9/11: More Now Dead From Illness Than the Attacks](https://cdn.slatesource.com/e/c/9/ec93076f-1b92-43ec-b916-e5033b9c1a74.webp)

# 9/11: More Now Dead From Illness Than the Attacks

- [Made in Slatesource](https://slatesource.com/@steph/9-11-more-now-dead-from-illness-than-the-attacks)
- By [Steph](https://slatesource.com/@steph)
- Created on Sep 9, 2026

People killed in the attacks on September 11, 2001

2,977

People since dead from 9/11-related illness

3,000+

Lifetime cancer certifications: WTC Health Program

57,044

New cancer certifications in the past 12 months alone

10,393

People currently enrolled in the WTC Health Program

145,275

Year the program could start turning people away

2028

## More Have Now Died From the Air Than From the Attacks

On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people were killed. That number is the figure most people carry: the official toll of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. As of the twenty-fifth anniversary, a different number has quietly surpassed it. More than 3,000 people have now died from a 9/11-related cancer or illness, confirmed by the World Trade Center Health Program, the federal program that monitors and treats those exposed to the toxic cloud over Lower Manhattan. For the first time, the death toll from what Ground Zero left in the air exceeds the death toll from what Ground Zero left in the rubble.

## What Was in the Air

The toxic dust contained pulverised concrete, glass fibres, asbestos, heavy metals, dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and at least 40 other confirmed carcinogens. Exposure has been linked to more than 70 types of cancer, as well as chronic respiratory and digestive conditions. The people affected include firefighters, police officers, paramedics, construction workers, cleanup crews, and the residents, office workers, and schoolchildren who lived, worked, or studied in the disaster zone and were never asked whether they wanted to breathe what was in the air.

[CDC World Trade Center Health Program: Program Statistics (primary source, updated quarterly)](https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/ataglance.html?utm_source=slatesource)

## 57,044 Cancers Certified, and 10,393 More in a Single Year

The WTC Health Program's quarterly summary, published August 1 with data through June 30, 2026, records 57,044 lifetime cancer certifications: 28,131 among responders and 28,913 among survivors. Ten years ago the number stood at around 3,200. In the twelve months to June 2026 alone, 10,393 cancer certifications were added, the highest single-year total on record and more than triple the annual rate from a decade ago. The surge has a straightforward cause: the people who were at Ground Zero are now mostly in their late fifties and sixties, the ages at which many of the linked cancers, particularly prostate, thyroid, and lymphoma, are most likely to appear.

## 19 Percent Higher Risk of Prostate Cancer, 41 Percent Higher Risk of Leukemia

A cancer certification is a specific legal determination: a program physician has decided that the person's 9/11 exposure was "substantially likely" to be a significant contributing cause of the disease, which then triggers coverage for treatment at no cost to the patient. Researchers studying 69,102 WTC responders found a 19 percent higher risk of prostate cancer and a 41 percent higher risk of leukemia compared to the general population. Thyroid cancer, lymphoma, and melanoma rates are also elevated. The programme currently covers more than 70 certified cancer types, a list that expanded to include uterine cancer in 2023.

## The FDNY Is Losing Three Members a Month

Total enrollment has reached 145,275 members across all 50 states. Survivors now outnumber responders as the larger source of new applications: that category covers people who lived or worked within the exposure zone, not just rescue workers. Among those enrolled, 67.3 percent are certified for at least one WTC-related health condition. The human cost within individual institutions is stark. The Uniformed Firefighters Association reports losing approximately three members a month to WTC-related disease. A total of 409 FDNY members have died from related conditions since 2001.

> Tens of thousands of responders and survivors are sick. The program will be forced to close enrollment to new responders and survivors by October 2028 if additional funding is not secured.

[Medical Daily: Ten Thousand New Cancer Certifications in a Year (September 9, 2026)](https://www.medicaldaily.com/wtc-health-program-cancer-certifications-2026-data-25th-anniversary-478413?utm_source=slatesource)

## The Program Could Start Turning People Away in 2028

The WTC Health Program was authorised by the James Zadroga Act of 2010, then reauthorised in 2015, and is funded through 2090 in theory. In practice, Congress has appropriated money in instalments: $1 billion in 2022, another $676 million in 2023. Without further action, the program faces a specific cliff: mandatory closure to new enrollments beginning in October 2028. Research grants have already been paused. The people most likely to develop cancer from their 2001 exposure are the people now in their late fifties, exactly the cohort that will be seeking care in 2028 and after. A study published in March 2026 in the Annals of Epidemiology found that program membership was associated with a 13 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality. The program is working. It is also running short of money.

[National September 11 Memorial and Museum: Illness and Advocacy After 9/11](https://www.911memorial.org/illness-and-advocacy-after-911?utm_source=slatesource)