Pulmonary disease in rescue workers at the World Trade Center site

Details

• Personal Author:
  Banauch GI ; Dhala A ; Prezant DJ
• Description:
  Purpose of review: The catastrophic collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers on September 11, 2001 created a large-scale disaster site in a densely populated urban environment. Over the ensuing months, tens of thousands of rescue, recovery and cleanup workers, volunteers, and residents of the adjacent community were exposed to a complex mixture of airborne pollutants. This review focuses on currently described respiratory syndromes, symptoms, and physiologic derangements in WTC rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers, discusses potential long-term effects on respiratory health, and draws parallels to community findings. Recent findings: Detailed qualitative and quantitative analyses of airborne pollutants with their changing composition during initial rescue/recovery and subsequent cleanup have been published. Major concerns include persistent aerodigestive tract inflammatory syndromes, such as reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS), reactive upper airways dysfunction syndrome (RUDS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and inflammatory pulmonary parenchymal syndromes, as well as respiratory tract and nonrespiratory malignancies. Aerodigestive tract inflammatory syndromes have now been documented in WTC exposed occupational groups, and syndrome incidence has been linked to WTC airborne pollutant exposure intensity. Community based investigations have yielded similar findings. Summary: While it is too early to ascertain long-term effects of WTC dust exposure, current studies already demonstrate a definite link between exposure to WTC-derived airborne pollutants and respiratory disease, both in the occupational and the community setting. A better understanding of causes and effects of this exposure will help in developing appropriate preventative tools for rescue workers in future disasters. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Asthma Asthma, Occupational Delivery Of Health Care Emergency Responders Environmental Exposure Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Irritants Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks Women

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• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Airborne-particles Author Keywords: Construction Workers Bronchial-asthma Digestive-system Emergency-responders Environmental-exposure Exposure-levels Firefighters Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Humans Injuries Lung-irritants Medical-care Medical-monitoring Medical-treatment Nonspecific Bronchial Hyperreactivity Pollutants Pollution Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary-function Pulmonary-system Pulmonary-system-disorders Reactive Airway Dysfunction Syndrome Reactive Upper Airway Dysfunction Syndrome Rescue-workers Rescue Workers Respiration Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-factors World Trade Center

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• ISSN:
  1070-5287
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  160-168
• Volume:
  11
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046187
• Citation:
  Curr Opin Pulm Med 2005 Mar; 11(2):160-168
• Contact Point Address:
  G. Banauch, Pulmonary Division, Montefiore Medical Center, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, NY 10467
• Email:
  hbanauch@montefiore.org
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Fire Department
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040701
• Source Full Name:
  Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine
• End Date:
  20110630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a235cb442b40fda11a9289de2cd0b50097f836d90360aac7947fd71e9588b140a35faaf7eb7499b2cb0bdca0bb74bb5a0cf526276edf0ec621eaa1796a4b84a6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201314/cdc_201314_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 97.14 KB ]