9/11 Still Wreaking Havoc on Firefighters' HealthUpdated

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9/11 Still Wreaking Havoc on Firefighters' HealthUpdated:

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AOL News (April 7) -- Many rescue workers who spent months inside the cloud

surrounding the ruins of the World Trade Center after 9/11 still suffer

diminished lung capacity and might never recover from the damage their bodies

sustained.

Those are the results of a seven-year research project to track the lung health

of FDNY rescue workers, published this week in the New England Journal of

Medicine. The findings are a stark reminder of the toll that 9/11 continues to

take on those who helped save lives and clean up the wreckage.

The study, which is the largest yet on relief workers at ground zero, was a

collaborative effort between the FDNY and a team at the Albert Einstein College

of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center.

Beth A. Keiser, AFP / Getty Images

A seven-year study that tracked the lung health of FDNY rescue workers found

many who spent time at the World Trade Center after 9/11 may never recover from

the injuries they sustained. Here, firemen and rescue workers work to clear

debris of the twin towers on Sept. 13, 2001.

Researchers, led by Dr. Aldrich, tested the lung capacity of 12,781

firefighters and EMS workers -- 92 percent of all FDNY rescue workers at ground

zero -- at regular intervals over the past seven years.

All the study participants had arrived at ground zero between Sept. 11 and Sept.

24, 2001.

All had also undergone lung-capacity tests before 9/11, because normal lung

function is a requirement for employment with the FDNY. Those tests offered a

baseline by which to compare the post-9/11 results.

The team used spirometry testing -- an evaluation of how much air an individual

can expel in a single breath -- as a gauge of lung function.

By the end of the study, 13 percent of firefighters and 22 percent of EMS

workers who had never smoked suffered from below-normal lung function.

The study is a follow-up to initial work that Aldrich and his colleagues did

after 9/11. In a study published in an April 2006 edition of the American

Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the team concluded that in

the year following 9/11, FDNY rescue workers suffered loss of lung function that

was 12 times greater than that seen in normal aging.

While lung function dropped sharply immediately after 9/11, the new research

indicates that it often continued to deteriorate. Even worse, there's no sign of

recovery.

Over 1,000 firefighters who worked at ground zero have retired and are receiving

disability payments. Ironically, Aldrich noted, many of those he tested wouldn't

pass the FDNY's entrance exam today.

" With lung function like that, you can't even be hired as a firefighter, " he

told AOL News. " You won't be able to sustain rigorous physical activity. "

Symptoms of diminished lung function can differ between individuals, but

day-to-day problems can include difficulty inhaling and a chronic cough.

Exercise is often out of the question.

" These are people suffering from significant impairment, " Aldrich said.

And while firefighters are inevitably exposed to contaminated air and smoke, the

lung capacity of ground zero workers is much worse than that of other veteran

firefighters. Several studies of urban and woodland firefighters concluded that

despite short-term lung damage they sustain, recovery usually occurs " within a

matter of days. "

Aldrich is convinced that the uniquely contaminated nature of the air at ground

zero, along with months of daily exposure, was enough to cause permanent damage

-- not to mention the fact that rescue workers often went without protective

masks, either because of logistics or lack of supply.

" Firefighters in daily circumstances have the very best protection, " he said.

" But hard labor, like what went on at ground zero, is nearly impossible in that

kind of gear. "

FDNY has been running an ongoing medical monitoring and treatment program since

shortly after 9/11, which includes free testing and medications for several

ailments, including respiratory problems. Without the initiative, which is

financed by millions in federal funds, " it's safe to say that the results could

have been much much more serious, " Aldrich said.

Studies to determine the effect of 9/11 clean-up on the health of rescue workers

are expected to continue for decades.

" These are ongoing problems, " Aldrich said. " So that means our work in diagnosis

and in treatment continues as well. "

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