9/11 first responders with severe debris exposure have higher risk of dementia, study finds

New research is providing further insight into how dust and debris from the fallen World Trade Center may play a role in the brain health of first responders.

In the study, published Wednesday in Open JAMA Networkresearchers at Stony Brook University in New York found that severe exposure to construction debris was significantly associated with a higher risk of dementia before age 65, compared to those who were not exposed or who used personalized protective equipment such as masks or hazmat suits.

The findings, which used data from 5,010 respondents who were part of the Stony Brook WTC Health and Wellness Programwere consistent even after adjusting for demographic, medical, and social factors.

Sean Clouston, one of the study’s authors, told CBS News that what was most surprising about the findings was “how common the result already appears to be” given the relatively young ages of the respondents. The average age of participants at the start of the study was 53 years.

“Dementia is a concern particularly for people in their 70s or 80s. Here, we found that the rates were very high,” he said.

This study builds on previous research by the Stony Brook team. In a 2022 studyresearchers found that 9/11 first responders show signs of cognitive impairment at approximately three times the rate of the general population.

The latest study, however, is the first to “show an association between exposure and dementia, and to show that PPE may have helped mitigate exposures,” Clouston said.

While the exact mechanism is unknown, he said, literature shows that “very fine particles and chemicals” in the air at the World Trade Center were “neurotoxic and can cross the blood-brain barrier to affect the brain.”

One an estimated 400,000 people were exposed to toxic contaminants, risk of physical injury, and physical and emotional stress in the days to months following the attacks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Benjamin Luft, co-author and director of the Stony Brook WTC Health and Wellness Program, believes research into respondents’ cognitive health should continue.

“These findings are a major step forward in establishing that the dust and toxins that were released as a result of the calamitous 9/11 terrorist attacks continue to have devastating consequences for first responders,” Luft, who has been evaluating first responders for 20 years. years, said in a press release. “The full extent of the neurodegenerative disease remains to be determined.”

Many respondents also now suffer from mental illnesses, including PTSDand others died due to a series of cancerschronic inflammatory lung disease and lung disease.

The air quality that first responders were exposed to at the World Trade Center was more severe than the poor air quality we experience on a daily basis, Stefania Forner, director of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association, told CBS News.

“It included a wide range of hazardous materials,” she said. Yet, air pollution and dementia are global public health crises, Forner said.

“Air pollution is known to be harmful to our brain health and our overall health, and may be associated with amyloid accumulation in the brain and increased risk of cognitive decline,” she said.

Clouston hopes the latest investigation will also have implications for how others might react in the wake of an “uncontrolled disaster where consumer goods and buildings collapse or burn.”

Such exposures could include terrorist attacks, he said, but they could also include natural disasters like wildfires.

“We must assume the air is not safe to breathe and act accordingly,” he said.

There is good news, he said: “Wearing PPE seems to help.”