All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in a Cohort of WTC-Exposed and Non-WTC-Exposed Firefighters [2023]

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boffetta, Paolo ; Cannon, Madeline ; Daniels, Robert D. ; Goldfarb, David G. ; Hall, Charles B. ; Prezant, David J. ; Singh, Ankura ; Webber, Mayris P. ; Zeig-Owens, Rachel
• Description:
  Objective: To compare mortality rates in World Trade Center (WTC)-exposed Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) firefighters with rates in similarly healthy, non-WTC-exposed/non-FDNY firefighters, and compare mortality in each firefighter cohort with the general population. Methods: 10 786 male WTC-exposed FDNY firefighters and 8813 male non-WTC-exposed firefighters from other urban fire departments who were employed on 11 September 2001 were included in the analyses. Only WTC-exposed firefighters received health monitoring via the WTC Health Programme (WTCHP). Follow-up began 11 September 2001 and ended at the earlier of death date or 31 December 2016. Death data were obtained from the National Death Index and demographics from the fire departments. We estimated standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) in each firefighter cohort versus US males using demographic-specific US mortality rates. Poisson regression models estimated relative rates (RRs) of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in WTC-exposed versus non-WTC-exposed firefighters, controlling for age and race. Results: Between 11 September 2001 and 31 December 2016, there were 261 deaths among WTC-exposed firefighters and 605 among non-WTC-exposed. Both cohorts had reduced all-cause mortality compared with US males (SMR (95% CI)=0.30 (0.26 to 0.34) and 0.60 (0.55 to 0.65) in WTC-exposed and non-WTC-exposed, respectively). WTC-exposed firefighters also had lower rates of all-cause mortality (RR=0.54, 95% CI=0.49 to 0.59) and cancer-specific, cardiovascular-specific and respiratory disease-specific mortality compared with non-WTC-exposed firefighters. Conclusion: Both firefighter cohorts had lower than expected all-cause mortality. Fifteen years post 11 September 2001, mortality was lower in WTC-exposed versus non-WTC-exposed firefighters. Lower mortality in the WTC-exposed suggests not just a healthy worker effect, but additional factors such as greater access to free health monitoring and treatment that they receive via the WTCHP. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cyanides Environmental Pollution Metals Mining Occupational Health Platinum Safety
• Keywords:
  Cancer Cardiovascular Disease Cohort Studies Demographic Characteristics Fire Fighters First Responders Mortality Rates Respiratory Diseases World Trade Center WTC
• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  WTCHP - World Trade Center Health Program
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  9 pdf pages
• Volume:
  80
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067210
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2023 Jun; 80(6):297-303
• Email:
  rachel.zeig-owens@fdny.nyc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Performing Organization:
  Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20170701
• End Date:
  20210630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:49e055dc4a66db6462312bbc488d97ec504915f43b84fba8c6267a03060766c6d2d039a972a4e2abee26801d63e928353ba4773ade16f451fb94ad6fc0c10bd2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230748/cdc_230748_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 429.72 KB ]