The events of Sept. 11 left Americans with, above all, questions. The recent 9/11 Commission tried to answer some of them, but rescue workers and New Yorkers worry their health is still in danger. A recently proposed bill could insure them to seek better health treatment.

Soon after Sept. 11, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was quick to assure New Yorkers the air they were breathing — even with the still-prevalant poisonous gas and dust — was safe. An internal investigation later found that the White House Council on Environmental Quality “convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones,” says an article published by Inter Press News Services.

During a short time after the Trade Center attacks, the EPA helped clean and test about 4,000 apartments in the area, but tens of thousands of other sites have yet to be officially checked for toxins such as asbestos, mercury and lead.

According to Mount Sinai’s occupational health clinic’s most recent figures, about half of the 9,000 rescue and recovery workers still suffer from respiratory problems.

In March, a group of recovery workers and downtown residents sued the EPA to demand further testing and cleanup, as well as the creation of a fund to pay for medical monitoring of affected people.

A woman who lived one and a half blocks from Ground Zero says she had her home tested and found relatively high levels of fiberglass, asbestos and other toxins. She claims that on the day of the attacks, “thick gray dust mixed with burnt papers pervaded the apartment though open windows.” As a result, she contracted a rash on her face and had severe headaches, sinus problems and a deep cough, she says.

Recently, two Congress members proposed expanding federal health insurance to downtown residents and workers to cover their physical and psychological treatment and the cost of prescription medications. And the bill would increase the number of people being monitored from 12,000 to 40,000.