Five-Year Follow-Up of Army Personnel Potentially Exposed to Chemical Warfare Agents
Abstract
In l99l, US Army personnel were potentially exposed to chemical warfare agents following the demolition of the Khamisiyah ammunition depot in Iraq. We conducted three related investigations concerning morbidity and mortality. First, we analyzed data from 5,555 Army veteran respondents to the VA's 1995 National Health Survey of Gulf War Era Veterans and their Families to study the association between potential exposure to chemical agents and self-reported morbidity. Potential exposure status was determined from Department of Defense (DoD) data known as the 2000 plume model. Second, we resurveyed a sample of roughly 1,200 respondents to the original survey to obtain self-reported morbidity after some of these original respondents had been notified by DoD of possible exposure to chemical agents. Comparing pre- and post-notification morbidity allowed us to study the association of notification and morbidity. Neither possible exposure nor notification of possible exposure were unduly associated with morbidity. Third, we examined the association between mortality among some 351,000 deployed Army veterans and potential exposure. We found a roughly two-fold excess of deaths due to brain cancer in the exposed group, representing an excess of 12 deaths in roughly 100,000 subjects in a 10-year period. The results of our research were published in three papers in two peer-reviewed journals.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA443587
Entities
People
- William F. Page
Organizations
- National Academy of Sciences