Research Recommendations to Address Impacts of Military Occupational Chemical Exposures: Focus on Dense Urban Environments in Multidomain Operations
Abstract
The goal of the project is to identify the most prevalent and high risk emerging chemical threats to Warfighter health, performance and lethality that may be present within dense urban (DUE) or subterranean environments (STE). This knowledge product is to be transitioned to Army Public Health Center (under Transition Agreement T.MRIEM.2020.21) and Army leaders to support development of strategies to reduce risks to human performance and readiness related to chemical threats during multidomain operations (MDO).Initial tasks of the project were aimed at establishing the current state of science identifying the common chemical exposure threats in deployment settings, including DUE and STE. Information regarding research findings, past or current assessment or surveillance efforts, and threats to Warfighter performance and readiness were collected directly from identified subject matter experts and select reports, as well as through a review of the research literature. Analysis of information obtained through these sources revealed an inconsistent and largely incomplete picture regarding current chemical threat assessment approaches and capabilities. These gaps in current knowledge and practice limit the ability to provide effective, targeted solutions to leaders and Warfighters to protect, sustain, or enhance performance and lethality, leaving our objective of determining the most prevalent and high risk emerging chemical threats to Warfighter health, performance and lethality present within dense urban or subterranean environments not achieved. In short, while there are select documents and surveillance reports that provide lists of the more common chemical exposure threats that have been detected in deployment settings, including DUE and STE, there remains limited documentation of objective exposure levels and minimal research or investigation has been described to direct the development of strategies to reduce risks to Warfighter performance and readiness in MDO.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 31, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1131968
Entities
People
- Kristin J. Heaton
- Susan P. Proctor
Organizations
- United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine