I remember seeing for months, when I was just eight years old, the footage of 9/11 first responders coated in fine dust as they ran in and out of the collapsing towers and pulled victims from the rubble. This dust, we would later learn, was highly toxic, containing high levels of carcinogens like asbestos and lead, pulverised concrete that causes a pulmonary condition called silicosis, and thousands of other contaminants. The deleterious effects of this exposure became a recurring story simmering in the background of my young adulthood as the first responders began grappling with their health …