Pulmonary Fibrosis among World Trade Center Responders: Results from the WTC Health Registry Cohort

Jiehui Li, James E. Cone, Robert M. Brackbill, Ingrid Giesinger, Janette Yung and Mark R. Farfel
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Jiehui Li: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York City, NY 10013, USA
James E. Cone: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York City, NY 10013, USA
Robert M. Brackbill: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York City, NY 10013, USA
Ingrid Giesinger: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York City, NY 10013, USA
Janette Yung: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York City, NY 10013, USA
Mark R. Farfel: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, World Trade Center Health Registry, New York City, NY 10013, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: Dust created by the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers on 9/11 included metals and toxicants that have been linked to an increased risk of pulmonary fibrosis (PF) in the literature. Little has been reported on PF among WTC responders. This report used self-reported physician diagnosis of PF with an unknown sub-type to explore the association between levels of WTC dust exposure and PF. We included 19,300 WTC responders, enrolled in the WTC Health Registry in 2003–2004, who were followed for 11 years from 2004 to 2015. Exposure was defined primarily by intensity and duration of exposure to WTC dust/debris and work on the debris pile. Stratified Cox regression was used to assess the association. We observed 73 self-reported physician-diagnosed PF cases, with a PF incidence rate of 36.7/100,000 person-years. The adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) of PF was higher in those with a medium (AHR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.1–5.8) and very high level of exposure (AHR = 4.5, 95% CI = 2.0–10.4), compared to those with low exposure. A test for exposure—response trend was statistically significant ( P trend = 0.004). Future research on WTC dust exposure and PF would benefit from using data from multiple WTC Health Program responder cohorts for increased statistical power and clinically confirmed cases.

Keywords: World Trade Center disaster; pulmonary fibrosis; dust (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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