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Ground Zero Workers Still Suffer from Lung Problems |
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A new study finds nearly one-quarter of a sample of firefighters and other first responders and construction workers exposed to the toxic mix of chemicals and debris at Ground Zero during 9/11 rescue and recovery operations continue to suffer from persistent lung problems.
The continuing study by the Mount Sinai Medical Center’s medical monitoring program examined the workers between 2004 and 2007, repeating exams conducted between the middle of 2002 and 2004. Slightly more than 24 percent had abnormal lung function and limited lung capacity, compared with 28 percent in the first study.
The study’s co-author, Dr. Jacqueline Moline, told HealthDay News that the rate of the lung damage is much higher than found in the general population and 2.5 times higher than found in smokers. Moline said:
These tests confirm what we’ve seen clinically: People are sick, they’re short of breath. They used to run miles a day; now they can barely run the length of a football field.
As many as 100,000 first responders—firefighters, paramedics, rescue and recovery workers—were exposed to the stew of chemicals and other toxic substances in the rubble of the World Trade Center following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Mount Sinai’s monitoring program has examined and treated some 26,000 responders, and the two lung function studies involved more than 3,100 people exposed to the toxic debris.
While Mount Sinai has examined many of the first responders and workers, the former Bush administration refused to create or support a permanent monitoring, research and health care program for Ground Zero workers. The Bush White House delayed and blocked efforts and cut funding for health care related to the 9/11 cleanup.
The patients in the Mount Sinai study all scored below normal on pulmonary function tests; they suffer from ailments ranging from asthma to reactive airway disease and shortness of breath, Moline said.
These are problems we’re seeing five or six or seven years after the towers fell. Many of these folks are going to have long-term problems, and their lung function won’t return to normal.
She said researchers may never know which component of the toxic brew of dust and smoke—including pulverized glass and concrete, asbestos, lead and burning jet fuel—hurt the lungs of those who responded to the emergency.
At the time of the Ground Zero events, the Bush administration sought to cover up the toxic and chemical hazards workers faced and assured New Yorkers the air in proximity to the World Trade Center debris was safe.
The study appears in the February edition of the medical journal CHEST.
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