New York, March 17 (IANS): A new study has found a strong link between prolonged work at the World Trade Centre (WTC) site following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the development of various autoimmune diseases, including arthritis and lupus.

The risk of developing an autoimmune disease over the next decade increased by about 13 percent for each month worked at the site.

Individuals who worked 10 months at the site were more than three times as likely to develop an autoimmune disease than those who worked there for one month, according to the study that appeared in Arthritis and Rheumatology.

"We believe that this is the first study to demonstrate that prolonged WTC exposure is an important predictor of post-9/11 systemic autoimmune diseases," said lead study author Mayris Webber.

"It is our hope that increased awareness of this association can lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment," Webber added.