People who were exposed to airborne chemicals, dust and debris as they responded to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center more than 20 years ago are much more likely to develop early onset dementia, according to a study released on Wednesday.
Between 2014 and 2023, researchers with Stony Brook University followed more than 5,000 World Trade Center responders aged 60 and younger who didn’t yet have any signs of dementia at the time of their first cognitive assessment and were checked on every 18 months for symptoms. Participants were questioned on how long they were exposed to debris from the buildings that collapsed and whether they were around a lot of dust and were wearing protective equipment.
The researchers identified 228 cases of dementia among the participants and found that the likelihood of developing early onset dementia, with symptoms before the age of 65, increased depending on the intensity of their level of exposure to the detritus from the collapses.
Participants with the highest level of exposure — responders who worked in dusty locations at or near Ground Zero for 15 weeks or longer — were most likely to develop early onset dementia. The likelihood was much lower for those who worked in environments with less dust or who regularly wore personal protective equipment, according to the study.
The researchers found that, compared with the general population, participants in the mild exposure group were about 12 times more likely to develop early onset dementia and those in the severe exposure group were about 42 times more likely.
“For the first time, this [study] has demonstrated that exposure to the World Trade Center dust not only caused a variety of systemic problems, such as cancer and lung disease, it also caused neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia,” said Benjamin Luft, a coauthor of the study and director and principal investigator at the Stony Brook WTC Wellness Program.
The research is part of a growing body of evidence that air pollution is a risk factor for dementia. Air pollution is one of a range of factors besides age — including hypertension, obesity and social isolation — that scientists have found people at heightened risk for dementia.
As of March, there were about 130,000 people enrolled in the federal World Trade Center Health Program, which covers a variety of cancers, mental health issues and digestive and respiratory disorders affecting those who responded to the 9/11 attacks or lived nearby. Dementia is not currently one of the diagnoses covered.
Luft said the Stony Brook study could potentially support the addition of dementia as a covered condition in the future. It's “very important for our patients," he said.
This story has been updated to correct a typo in its headline.
