Responders involved in the clean-up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre towers have a much greater risk of getting leukaemia, a study has found.
Police officers, firefighters and construction workers who inhaled toxic fumes at Ground Zero are 40 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with the form of blood cancer than the average person.
Dust and debris from jet fuel, as well as asbestos, cements and glass shards from the collapsing towers have all been shown to be carcinogenic.
Responders inhaled these cancer-causing airborne particles day in, day out from the tragedy on September 11, 2001, until the recovery work ended in June 2002.
Responders involved in the clean-up after 9/11 have a significantly greater risk of developing leukaemia, a study has found (a firefighter breaks down after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed)
A fiery blasts rocks the south tower of the World Trade Center as a hijacked plane crashes into it
The dust and debris from jet fuel, asbestos, cements and glass shards from the collapsing towers have all been shown to be carcinogenic
Responders breathed in these cancer-causing airborne particles day in, day out from the tragedy on September 11, 2001, until the recovery work ended in June 2002
Previous studies have shown responders are at a higher risk of breast, bladder and skin cancer.
But the latest research, by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, is the first to find a link to leukaemia.
The scientists scoured the medical records of 28,729 responders – mostly men – with an average age of 38. They tracked them from 2002 to 2013.
They found 1,072 cancers in 999 responders, with prostate, thyroid and leukaemia being the main culprits.
The rescue workers were at a nine per cent increased risk of developing cancer, compared to the general population.
Among the patients, they were twice as likely to have the disease in their thyroid compared to anywhere else.
Responders had a 40 per cent increased risk of leukaemia and 25 per cent for prostate, the data also showed.
Researchers did not find a clear link between length of time spent at Ground Zero – where the twin towers stood before the devastating terrorist attack that killed almost 3,000 people – in the development of certain cancers.
But they said in-depth records were not kept at the time, meaning they could not accurately track this link.
Previous studies have shown responders were at a higher risk of breast, bladder and skin cancer (New York City police officers gather at the wreckage)
But the latest research, by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, is the first to find a link to leukaemia (fire and rescue workers search through the rubble)
An aerial view shows only a small portion of the devastation caused by the towers collapsing
Co-lead study author Professor Susan Teitelbaum said: ‘This study showed increased incidence of several cancer types compared to previously conducted studies with shorter follow-up periods.
‘Because of the long latency period of many types of cancer, it is possible increased rates of other cancers, as well as World Trade Center exposure health issues, may emerge after longer periods of study.’
The findings were reported in the journal JNCI Cancer Spectrum.
There are 76,904 responders enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, which monitors and treats people who helped after the tragedy.
Cancers have been reported in 10,649 responders, including 362 cases of leukemia.
More than 2,270 responders have died from cancer and other illnesses caused by exposure to the toxic fumes.