World Trade Center Firefighters Needing Sinus Surgery Had More Intense, Longer Exposure to Caustic Dust and Have Higher Eosinophil Levels

Michael Barasch commented on an article that appeared in the April, 2016 “American Thoracic Society” regarding firefighters who were exposed to the WTC toxic dust: “Not surprisingly, there is now empirical evidence that firefighters who responded in the first two days of the World Trade Center disaster and those who worked at the site for six months or longer are more likely to need sinus surgery than firefighters whose exposure to the site’s caustic dust was less intense or shorter term”, said Barasch. “We have always suspected such a correlation and it’s not just the firefighters who were exposed on the first two days. We are seeing the same evidence of severe sinus and respiratory illnesses among the thousands of police officers, sanitation workers and construction workers who we also represent. Clearly, the air and dust was more toxic during the first 48 hours and sadly, thousands of first responders are still suffering from the exposure.”

Read the full article: http://www.thoracic.org/about/newsroom/press-releases/resources/eosinophils-and-first-responders-wtc.pdf