18 years later, the consequences of the World Trade Center are still being felt on the health of those who were present at the scene on September 11, 2001. While a previous study had concluded that the firefighters who intervened at the scene of the two twin towers were more exposed to the risk of cancer, they are also more affected than others by cardiovascular accidents.
Fire fighters who were on the front lines on the day of the tragedy as well as for the following months inhaled amounts of dust and toxins that damaged their cardiovascular systems.
The study, published in Jama Network Open, was based on monitoring the health of 9,796 New York firefighters who came to the World Trade Center site the same day and two weeks after September 11.
The data, collected between 2001 and 2017, is from the New York City Fire Department’s medical surveillance program, reports CNN. The first to have suffered from exposure to toxic fumes were those who came on the morning of September 11. “Those who were most at risk – those present on the morning of 9/11 – were at higher risk [de maladie cardio-vasculaire] than those who showed up later in the week, “observed Dr. David Prezant, chief medical officer, New York City fire officer and professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who conducted the study. .
Specifically, firefighters mobilized in the morning presented a 44% increased risk of cardiovascular disease 16 years later, compared to firefighters who arrived later, Prezant said. For those who came in the afternoon of September 11, the cardiovascular risk was increased by 24% compared to others. Work on the wreckage of the World Trade Center in the following months also poisoned the heart health of the firefighters: six months later, the heart risk was increased by 30%.
Heart risk: children too
Dr. David Prezant refrains from concluding a direct causal link between exposure to toxic dust and the risk of heart attack, calling for new comparative studies.
The firefighters were not the only ones to suffer the consequences of inhaling toxic dust following the collapse of the two towers. Thousands of children who were near the site are more likely to develop heart disease, according to a previous study in the International Environment magazine.
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