9/11 rescue workers highly susceptible to asthma

31 August, 2007:

The rescue and recovery workers involved in the rescue operations at the September 11, 2001, disaster at the World Trade Center are 12 times more
susceptible to asthma than the normal population.

A study conducted by the New York City Health Department has indicated that 70% of the rescue workers from 9/11 have increased respiratory problems.

The study was conducted by Katherine Wheeler and her colleagues at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in 2003 and 2004.

The results have been published in the September 2007 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, a monthly journal published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the United States.

The study included 25,748 rescue workers registered at the World Trade Centre Health Registry. The workers included firemen, policemen, construction workers, and volunteers. They hailed not only from New York City but also from various parts of the United States.

The respiratory problems seen in rescue workers involved in rescue missions at the World Trade Center include reactive airway diseases, persistent cough, and decreased pulmonary function. The prevalence of asthma among workers who responded early to the tragedy and continued working at ‘Ground Zero’ was 3.6% as compared to 0.3% for the general population.

Increased rates of respiratory dysfunctional problems have also been witnessed in people who live or work near the site. These problems could be attributed to the high exposure to increased levels of airborne dust and debris.

The authors of the report have considered early arrival time and increased duration of work as two significant factors, along with lack of usage of
protection.

According to the study, workers who arrived closer to the time of the collapse of the World Trade Centre were more likely to experience respiratory symptoms and reduced pulmonary function after September 11, 2001. The onset of asthma was not only associated with acute exposure to high levels of respiratory hazards but also with chronic exposure to presumably lower levels of airborne contaminants.

Those workers who began work directly after the towers collapsed on September 11, 2001, and worked for over 90 days are those who have reported the highest rate of prevalence of asthma, that is, 7%. Workers who were caught in the dust cloud and worked on the debris pile also reported high rates – 4.9% and 4.5%, respectively.

The study analyzed the effects of early arrival time, duration of exposure, and delayed use of protection such as masks and respirators. Though masks did not provide absolute protection, workers who wore masks and respirators reported lower rates of asthma – 4% and 2.9%, respectively. This, when compared to workers who did not use any protection and indicated a rate of 6.3% of the prevalence of asthma, shows that the usage of even minor protection proved to be beneficial.

According to Dr Thomas Friedman, New York City Health commissioner, “the dust from the World Trade Center collapse appears to have had significant respiratory health effects at least for people who worked at the site. These findings reflect the critical importance of getting appropriate respiratory protection to all workers as quickly as possible during a disaster, and making every effort to make sure workers wear them at all times. The events of 9/11 were unprecedented, and with the urgency of rescue operations and the difficulty of prolonged physical exertion with most types of respirators, there are no easy answers, even in retrospect.”

The results of this particular study corroborate what several other scientific studies have found regarding first responders’ declining respiratory health conditions.

According to another research conducted in 2006, roughly 10,000 of Ground Zero’s 40,000 first responders were studied. It was found that 70% of
those tested between 2002 and 2004 reported respiratory problems while working at the site. Of those, 60% reported persistent respiratory problems.

The World Trade Center Health Registry is the largest public health registry in the history of the United States. It was launched in 2003 to track the health of people exposed to the collapse of the World Trade Center and those who worked at the WTC site.