Lung Function of 9/11 Rescuers Fell, Study Finds
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Lung Function of 9/11 Rescuers Fell, Study FindsLung Function of 9/11 Rescuers Fell, Study FindsRescue workers exposed to thick clouds of dust after the attack on the World Trade Center had large drops in lung function lasting at least seven years,#x a study of nearly 13,000 workers has found.Construction MachineryThe study is the first to document long-term harm in a large group of firefighters and emergency medical workers who worked at ground zero between Sept. 11 and Sept. 24, 2001. All had had previous tests of lung function, so there were baseline readings with which the measurements after the attack could be compared.The dust exposure left “a substantial proportion of workers with abnormal lung function,” the researchers report in an article to be published on Thursdayin The New England Journal of Medicine.“The fact that this decline is persistent demonstrates that there is a need for continued monitoring and aggressive treatment,” Dr. David J. Prezant, an author of the study and the chief medical officer in the Office of Medical Affairs at the New York City Fire Department, said in an interview. #x“It is real.”The study included 91.6 percent of the nearly 14,000 firefighters and Emergency Medical Service staff members who worked at ground zero in the first two weeks after the attack. The results are based on lung function tests performed every 12 to 18 months from March 2000 until September 2008.On average, the rescue workers lost about 10 percent of their lung function in the year after the attack, with little or no recovery over the next six years, Dr. Prezant said.Construction MachineryFirefighters who arrived on the morning of Sept. 11 had the largest declines in the first year, because they were more likely to be caught in the worst of the dust cloud that erupted when the two towers collapsed after two jetliners were flown into them. Firefighters over all had greater declines than medical workers.Dr. Prezant said the effects on how people actually felt varied, depending on how strong their lungs were to begin with and whether they developed other ailments from their exposure. A healthy, vigorous person might not even be aware of a 10 percent drop in lung function, though it may make a difference under extreme conditions in a physically demanding job like firefighting.Of all the firefighters and emergency workers who were exposed, 30 percent to 40 percent, about 5,000, were found to have persistent symptoms, like cough, wheeze, sore throat,Energy saving lamp, shortness of breath or sinus drip, Dr. Prezant said. Nearly 1,000 from that group have qualified for “permanent respiratory disability” because of asthma or chronic bronchitis. Medicines can ease their symptoms but not cure them,#x and are usually needed long term. Asthma can end a firefighter’s career,Construction Machinerybecause smoke often brings on attacks.相关的主题文章：
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