WEDNESDAY, June 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- After helping America through one of its worst tragedies, some responders to the events of 9/11 may now face another foe: Heightened risks for dementia . A new study looks at the health of thousands of firemen, construction workers and others who worked at the World Trade Center (WTC) site for almost a year after the attacks. Many were exposed to high levels of toxic dust.
The study found that the worst-exposed workers face a much higher odds for dementia before the age of 65, compared to folks who worked onsite but either weren't exposed to dust and/or wore effective personal protective equipment (PPE). "This study builds on prior work suggesting that dust and debris from the WTC collapse contained neurotoxins," said a team led by epidemiologist researcher Sean Clouston , of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y.
"These results imply that these exposures were dangerous and support the view that the use of PPE might have prevented the onset of dementia before age 65 years among exposed responders," Clouston and colleagues wrote. He is a professor of family, population and preventive medicine at Stony Brook. The new findings were published June 12 in the journal JAMA Network Open .
As the researchers noted, during the days and months of rescue and cleanup at the WTC site, "workers reported heavy exposure to dust and particulate matter that caused acute gastrointestinal and respiratory discomfort and decreased pulmonary function.
