Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)-Related Mortality Among World Trade Center-Exposed and Non-World Trade Center-Exposed Rescue and Recovery Workers
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Population
2.2. Demographic and Death Data
2.3. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Population Characteristics
3.2. Relative Rates of ALS Mortality in WTC-Exposed Rescue/Recovery Workers Compared with Non-WTC-Exposed Rescue/Recovery Workers
3.3. ALS Mortality in WTC-Exposed and Non-WTC-Exposed Rescue/Recovery Workers Compared with the US General Population
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
| ALS | Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis |
| MND | Motor neuron disease |
| WTC | World Trade Center |
| WTCHP | World Trade Center Health Program |
| FDNY | Fire Department of the City of New York |
| EMS | Emergency medical service |
| CFHS | Career Firefighter Health Study |
| NIOSH | National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health |
| EMR | Electronic medical record |
| NDI | National Death Index |
| ICD-10 | International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision |
| SD | Standard deviation |
| RR | Relative rate |
| CI | Confidence interval |
| SMR | Standardized mortality ratio |
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| WTC-Exposed FDNY Rescue/Recovery Workers | Non-WTC-Exposed Non-FDNY Rescue/Recovery Workers | |
|---|---|---|
| Total N | 16,272 | 16,850 |
| Age on 11 September 2001, mean ± SD | 40.1 ± 9.7 | 45.3 ± 12.9 |
| Race/ethnicity, N (%) | ||
| Non-Hispanic White | 14,080 (86.5) | 12,062 (71.6) |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 922 (5.7) | 2767 (16.4) |
| Hispanic | 1102 (6.8) | 1194 (7.1) |
| Other | 168 (1.0) | 827 (4.9) |
| Sex, N (%) | ||
| Male | 15,724 (96.6) | 15,899 (94.4) |
| Female | 548 (3.4) | 951 (5.6) |
| Deceased by 31 December 2023, N (%) | 1211 (7.4) | 3554 (21.1) |
| Total follow-up years | 351,616.4 | 334,451.9 |
| Outcome | Adjusted RR (95% CI) 1 |
|---|---|
| ALS-related mortality defined using only underlying cause of death 2 | 0.54 (0.49–0.60) |
| ALS-related mortality defined using underlying or contributing causes of death 2 | 0.63 (0.57–0.69) |
| Outcome | WTC-Exposed FDNY Rescue/Recovery Workers | Non-WTC-Exposed Non-FDNY Rescue/ Recovery Workers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | SMR | 95% CI | N | SMR | 95% CI | |
| All-cause mortality | 1211 | 0.41 | 0.38–0.43 | 3554 | 0.76 | 0.73–0.78 |
| ALS-related mortality 2 | 5 | 0.44 | 0.14–1.03 | 16 | 1.06 | 0.60–1.72 |
| ALS-related mortality, sensitivity analysis 3 | 10 | 0.89 | 0.42–1.63 | N/A | ||
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Singh, A.; Zeig-Owens, R.; Cannon, M.F.; Moline, T.; Schwartz, T.; Prezant, D.J. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)-Related Mortality Among World Trade Center-Exposed and Non-World Trade Center-Exposed Rescue and Recovery Workers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22, 1712. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22111712
Singh A, Zeig-Owens R, Cannon MF, Moline T, Schwartz T, Prezant DJ. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)-Related Mortality Among World Trade Center-Exposed and Non-World Trade Center-Exposed Rescue and Recovery Workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2025; 22(11):1712. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22111712
Chicago/Turabian StyleSingh, Ankura, Rachel Zeig-Owens, Madeline F. Cannon, Tyrone Moline, Theresa Schwartz, and David J. Prezant. 2025. "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)-Related Mortality Among World Trade Center-Exposed and Non-World Trade Center-Exposed Rescue and Recovery Workers" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 22, no. 11: 1712. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22111712
APA StyleSingh, A., Zeig-Owens, R., Cannon, M. F., Moline, T., Schwartz, T., & Prezant, D. J. (2025). Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)-Related Mortality Among World Trade Center-Exposed and Non-World Trade Center-Exposed Rescue and Recovery Workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(11), 1712. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22111712

