by Michael Clancy
First-responders who inhaled toxic dust after the World Trade Center attack lost lung capacity equal to 12 years of aging, a medical study published Tuesday said. The study compared the lung function of 12,079 firefighters from the five years prior to 9/11 to tests given to firefighters taken after the response and recovery efforts at Ground Zero. Firefighters on average lost 12 years of lung capacity in a matter of months, the study found. "It is a strong study insofar as proving the cause and effect of World Trade Center exposure and breathing problems," said Gisela Banauch, a Montefiore Medical Center doctor who authored the report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "A big drop in lung capacity following the exposure helps to bolster a cause and effect." Another finding that bolsters the causal relationship is that the earlier firefighters responded on 9/11, the worse their breathing problems, Banauch said. Rescue workers who arrived on the first day had more frequent and severe breathing problems than those who arrived on the third day. Breathing masks and other equipment did not do much to prevent lung damage, the study found. The president of the firefighters union said the city needs to do more for first responders. "There are over 100 firefighters that FDNY doctors have deemed as too permanently disabled to continue working as firefighters, yet the city won't allow them to retire," said Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy. "If we are not going to take care of the rescuers, what type of message does that send?"
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