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Washington, May 18 (IANS) Workers exposed to the complex mixture of toxic airborne chemicals at the razed World Trade Centre (WTC) had a decreased ability to detect odours and irritants even two years later.'The nose performs many sensory functions that are critical for human health and safety,' said Pamela Dalton, environmental psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Centre who led the study.Individuals involved in rescue, recovery, demolition and clean-up at WTC were exposed to a complex mixture of smoke, dust, fumes and gases.Dalton and her colleagues studied 102 people who worked or volunteered at the WTC site on 9/11 and later to determine whether this exposure affected their ability to detect odours and irritants.Fortyfour percent reported being in lower Manhattan on 9/11 and 97 percent worked on the site during the week after the buildings' collapse in the deadly terrorist attack.Two years after the exposure, the WTC workers had decreased sensitivity to odours and irritants as compared to similar workers with no WTC exposure.'The sensory system that detects irritants is the first line of defense to protect the lungs against airborne toxic chemicals. The loss of the ability of the nose to respond to a strong irritant means the reflexes that protect the lungs from toxic exposures will not be triggered,' Dalton said.Twentytwo percent of the WTC workers had a diminished ability to detect odours and nearly 75 percent had an impaired ability to detect irritants.Workers exposed to the dust cloud immediately after the buildings' collapse had the most extreme loss of sensitivity to irritants, with an almost complete inability to detect the nasal irritant used in the study.Almost none of the individuals tested recognised their ability to detect odours and irritants was compromised, said a Monell release.'Odours also serve a protective function, such as the ability to identify smoke from a fire, leaking gas or spoiled food,' said Dalton.The findings were reported online in Environmental Health Perspectives.
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