Cancer rate 50% higher for Ground Zero cops

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - A study of cancer rates among NYPD officers who worked at Ground Zero found  they were 50 percent higher than for officers in the years before the terror attacks. The study was distributed within the police department and obtained by the NY Post.

In the 20-year study, the medical records of 40,000 cops were examined.

Roughly 56 percent of officers who worked at Ground Zero, with a cancer diagnosis after 9/11, were at the site within 24 hours of the attack, reported the Post.

The study was conducted by NYPD staff and experts from Weill-Cornell Medical College and Columbia University/New York Presbyterian Medical Center.

Overall cancer rates for NYPD officers is lower than for the general public as police officers are typically in good health.