Table 6.
Observed deaths and standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for major causes of death among FDNY rescue/recovery workers by arrival to the World Trade Center (WTC) site compared with US population rates 1.
| Cause (NIOSH Major Category) 2 | High Exposure | Moderate/Low Exposure | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observed | SMR (95% CI) | Observed | SMR (95% CI) | |
| All causes | 86 | 0.41 (0.33–0.51) ** | 460 | 0.33 (0.30–0.36) ** |
| Tuberculosis and HIV related disease (01) | ≤5 | 0.30 (0.01–1.66) | ≤5 | 0.12 (0.01–0.44) ** |
| All cancers | 26 | 0.51 (0.33–0.74) ** | 165 | 0.46 (0.39–0.53) ** |
| MN buccal and pharynx (02) | 0 | 0.00 (0.00–2.45) | ≤5 | 0.21 (0.03–0.76) ** |
| MN digestive organs and peritoneum (03) | 12 | 0.73 (0.38–1.28) | 58 | 0.53 (0.40–0.69) ** |
| MN respiratory system (04) | ≤5 | 0.20 (0.04–0.59) ** | 32 | 0.29 (0.20–0.42) ** |
| MN breast (05) | 0 | 0.00 (00.0–9.53) | ≤5 | 0.55 (0.01–3.05) |
| MN female genital organs (06) | 0 | 0.00 (0.00–20.23) | ≤5 | 1.34 (0.03–7.48) |
| MN male genital organs (07) | ≤5 | 1.01 (0.12–3.63) | ≤5 | 0.28 (0.09–0.66) ** |
| MN urinary (08) | ≤5 | 0.72 (0.09–2.60) | 9 | 0.44 (0.20–0.83) ** |
| MN other and unspecified sites (09) | ≤5 | 0.46 (0.13–1.18) | 29 | 0.50 (0.33–0.71) ** |
| MN lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues (10) | ≤5 | 0.66 (0.14–1.92) | 28 | 0.84 (0.56–1.21) |
| Benign and unspecified neoplasms (11) | ≤5 | 1.50 (0.04–8.36) | ≤5 | 1.09 (0.35–2.55) |
| Diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs (12) | 0 | 0.00 (0.00–4.75) | ≤5 | 0.35 (0.04–1.26) |
| Diabetes mellitus (13) | ≤5 | 0.42 (0.09–1.24) | ≤5 | 0.11 (0.03–0.25) ** |
| Mental, psychoneurotic, and personality disorders (14) | 0 | 0.00 (0.00–0.86) * | 11 | 0.37 (0.19–0.66) ** |
| Nervous system disorders (15) | ≤5 | 0.20 (0.01–1.11) | 8 | 0.20 (0.09–0.39) ** |
| Heart diseases (16) | 14 | 0.30 (0.16–0.51) ** | 106 | 0.34 (0.27–0.41) ** |
| Other diseases of the circulatory system (17) | ≤5 | 0.17 (0.02–0.63) ** | 21 | 0.27 (0.16–0.41) ** |
| Diseases of the respiratory system (18) | ≤5 | 0.43 (0.14–1.01) | 23 | 0.25 (0.16–0.37) ** |
| Diseases of the digestive system (19) | ≤5 | 0.07 (0.00–0.41) ** | 19 | 0.23 (0.14–0.36) ** |
| Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissues (20) | ≤5 | 3.43 (0.09–19.08) | ≤5 | 0.52 (0.01–2.92) |
| Diseases of the musculoskeletal and connective tissue systems (21) | ≤5 | 1.39 (0.04–7.77) | ≤5 | 0.21 (0.01–1.18) |
| Diseases of the genito-urinary system (22) | 0 | 0.00 (0.00–1.16) | ≤5 | 0.09 (0.01–0.32) ** |
| Symptoms and ill-defined conditions (23) | ≤5 | 0.67 (0.08–2.42) | 9 | 0.49 (0.23–0.94) * |
| Transportation injuries (24) | ≤5 | 0.47 (0.13–1.21) | 9 | 0.19 (0.09–0.36) ** |
| Falls (25) | ≤5 | 1.11 (0.13–4.01) | ≤5 | 0.32 (0.09–0.82) * |
| Other injury (26) | 11 | 0.78 (0.39–1.40) | 30 | 0.39 (0.27–0.56) ** |
| Violence (27) | 7 | 0.52 (0.21–1.08) | 19 | 0.26 (0.16–0.40) ** |
| Other and unspecified (residual and blank codes) causes (28) | ≤5 | 0.42 (0.11–1.08) | 18 | 0.30 (0.18–0.48) ** |
* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01. Abbreviations: Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 95% confidence interval (CI), malignant neoplasm (MN). 1 US population mortality rates from 1960–2019 were used as the reference. 2 Causes of death are from the NIOSH major and minor cause of death categories and are listed with the associated NIOSH numbers in parentheses. NIOSH categories based on International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision codes [24].