WTC-related Occupational Respiratory Diseases

Occupational exposures at the WTC disaster site from September 2001 to June 2002 were poorly characterized, but seem to be associated with several adverse health effects.  Respiratory diseasees temporally related to those exposures had a rather gradual onset, manifested with a variety of symptoms and functional abnormalities.  Those disorders have been characterized as irritant-induced occupational asthma, nonspecific chronic bronchitis, chronic bronchiolitis, and aggravated pre-existent obstructive lung disease.  Long term surveillance does not suggest thus far a continued accelerated pulmonary functional decline, and research is revealing a number of risk factors for accelerated decline in a subset of the cohorts.