Exposure concerns of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans

[w8liftinglady]

large summit-they did the studies...how long until action?...and maybe a few less veterans exposed?

Read at your leisure...I'm here if you have questions.


http://www.warrelatedillness.va.gov/nj/provider/20090806-Exposure-Concerns/index.asp

Jointly Sponsored By:
The Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine,
Department of Community and Preventive Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine

& VA NJ War Related Illness and Injury Study Center

with support from the NY/NJ Education and Research Center


Deployment and Return from War — What exposures are new Veterans concerned about?
- R. Teichman, MD, MPH
Anthrax, Small Pox and Multiple Vaccinations — What we do know and what we don't know.
- O. Osinubi, MD, MSc, MBA, FRCA
Sarin Gas, Pesticides and Antidotes — Was I exposed? Was the cure worse?
- V. Cassano, MD, MPH
Depleted Uranium Exposure — The Myths, The Facts — What you need to know to talk to your patients.
- O. Osinubi, MD, MSc, MBA, FRCA
Sandstorms, Oil Well Fires, Burning Trash, etc. — Will that sand and smoke hurt me?
- C. Weese, MD, MPH
Veterans Exposure Concerns — The Occupational and Environmental Medicine History
- D. Milek, MD, PhD, MPH
Keynote Speaker — Environmental Exposure Surveillance in a Combat Theater
- C. Weese, MD, MPH
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury — The Signature Injury of the Iraq Conflict
- M. Jefferson, PhD
Reintegration into Civilian Life — Difficult issues being faced by returning troops
- R. Teichman, MD, MPH
How to Take an Exposure History from a Vet
- R. Teichman, MD, MPH
Perceptions and Risk Communication in Exposure Concerns
- S. Santos, PhD, MS
Returning Veterans with Health Concerns and Emerging Problems — How can they get help?
- W. Keyes, QMC(SW), USN (Ret.)
Web Resource List
War Related Illness and Injury Study Center

The War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC, pronounced "risk") is a national VA program established to provide expertise in post-deployment health for Veterans and their health care providers.
This Web page provides information of Veterans' exposure concerns.
This Web page contains fact sheets on depleted uranium (DU) and burning trash and human waste exposures.

VA Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards

The Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards improves Veterans' health through prevention and treatment, outreach, surveillance, and focusing on special populations, including women Veterans, Veterans with HIV/AIDS, Veterans with hepatitis C, and Veterans exposed to hazardous materials during military service. The Office also manages VA’s medical response to emergencies and protects the safety and health of Veterans Health Administration employees.

Deployment Health Clinical Center Health Information Website

PDHealth.mil was designed to assist clinicians in the delivery of post-deployment health care by fostering a trusting partnership between military men and women, Veterans, their families, and their health care providers to ensure the highest quality care for those who make sacrifices in the world's most hazardous workplace.

Deployment Health Family Readiness Library

This library provides Service members, families, leaders, Health Care providers, and Veterans an easy way to find deployment health and family readiness information. Within this library you'll find access to fact sheets, guides, and other products on a wide variety of topics published by the services and organizations that serve you. You'll also find additional web links to other organizations and resources devoted to the health and well-being of the Service member and their family.

US Army for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine

The USACHPPM team is a linchpin of medical support to combat forces and of the military managed-care system. It provides worldwide scientific expertise and services in clinical and field preventive medicine, environmental and occupational health, health promotion and wellness, epidemiology and disease surveillance, toxicology, and related laboratory sciences.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

The CDC has a web site that provides information on environmental health concerns. Environmental health at CDC strives to promote health and quality of life by preventing or controlling those diseases or deaths that result from interactions between people and their environments.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR serves the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances.

[w8liftinglady]

1. In 2007...

http://www.environment.co.za/poisoning-carcinogens-heavy-metals-mining/cancer-in-iraq-veterans-raises-possibility-of-toxic-exposure.html

Cancer in Iraq Veterans Raises Possibility of Toxic Exposure

By Carla McClain
The Arizona Daily Star

Sunday 26 August 2007

After serving in Vietnam nearly 40 years ago - and receiving the Bronze Star for it - the Tucson soldier was called back to active duty in Iraq.

While there, he awoke one morning with a sore throat. Eighteen months later, Army Sgt. James Lauderdale was dead, of a bizarrely aggressive cancer rarely seen by the doctors who tried to treat it.

As a result, his stunned and heartbroken family has joined growing ranks of sickened and dying Iraq war vets and their families who believe exposures to toxic poisons in the war zone are behind their illnesses - mostly cancers, striking the young, taking them down with alarming speed.

The number of these cancers remains undisclosed, with military officials citing patient privacy issues, as well as lack of evidence the cases are linked to conditions in the war zone. The U.S. Congress has ordered a probe of suspect toxins and may soon begin widespread testing of our armed forces.

[w8liftinglady]

2. in 2004

http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2004/08/15_bollyn_depleted-uranium-blamed-cancer.htm

Depleted Uranium Blamed for Cancer Clusters Among Iraq War Vets
by Christopher Bollyn August 15, 2004

A discovery by American Free Press that nearly half of the recently returned soldiers in one unit from Iraq have "malignant growths" is "critical evidence," according to experts, that depleted uranium weapons are responsible for the huge number of disabled Gulf War vets - and damage to their DNA.

A growing number of U.S. military personnel who are serving, or have served, in the Persian Gulf, Iraq , and Afghanistan have become sick and disabled from a variety of symptoms commonly known as Gulf War Syndrome. Depleted uranium (DU) weapons have been blamed for causing many of the symptoms.

"Gulf War vets are coming down with these symptoms at twice the rate of vets from previous conflicts," said Barbara A. Goodno from the Dept. of Defense's Deployment Health Support Directorate.

A recent discovery by American Free Press that nearly half the soldiers in one returned unit have malignant growths has provided the scientific community with "critical evidence," experts say, to help understand exactly how depleted uranium affects humans - and their DNA.

[w8liftinglady]

3. in 2006

http://www.wise-uranium.org/pdf/dutrdf06.pdf

SUMMARY OF DEPLETED URANIUM TEST RESULTS
FOR IRAQ WAR VETERANS
Dan Fahey1
17 March 2006
SUMMARY
The use of armor-piercing ammunition made from depleted uranium (DU) during the war in Iraq has raised concerns about DU exposures among military personnel and civilians. Since 2003, the US Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have tested more than 2,100 Iraq war veterans for DU exposure and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has tested approximately 350 veterans. There have reportedly been few positive test results, but these results obscure problems with selection processes and testing methods. In this paper I summarize publicly available information about the use of DU munitions in Iraq, analyze differences between DoD/VA and MoD testing processes, review the results of government testing efforts, and discuss the significance of the testing processes and results.
DEPLETED URANIUM IN IRAQ
The US and British militaries have confirmed that they used DU ammunition during the war in Iraq, but the exact quantities and locations where DU was shot remain uncertain.2 The US Army and Air Force shot approximately 115 metric tons of DU between March 2003 and March 20043 (Table 1). The US Marine Corps has not disclosed how much DU its Abrams tanks and AV-8B Harrier jets shot since 2003, but I estimate the additional use by the Marine Corps would bring the total use through March 2004 up to between 118 to 136 metric tons (130 to 150 tons).4 British forces apparently shot DU munitions only during the 2003 invasion; the MoD has acknowledged that British Challenger II tanks shot approximately 870kg/DU (1,920 lbs/DU).5
The use of DU munitions by US forces since March 2004 remains uncertain. The testing of veterans for exposure to DU through September 2005 could be taken as a sign of ongoing, though limited use of DU munitions,6 but in January 2005 then-Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers wrote: “munitions containing DU are not being used in the current stability and support operations in Iraq or Afghanistan.”7 Possible exposures may have resulted from the destruction of DU ammunition or the breaching of DU armor on tanks,8 and some servicemembers wounded by fragments have been tested “to ensure DU residues were not used in an improvised explosive device.”9
MUCH more at site

[w8liftinglady]

4. In 2008

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15258

US/IRAQ: Indiana guardsmen sue defense contractor KBR

Say firm knew of exposure to carcinogen

by Farah Stockman, Boston Globe
December 4th, 2008




Sixteen Indiana national guardsmen filed a lawsuit yesterday accusing KBR, the Houston-based US defense contractor, of knowingly exposing them to "one of the most potent carcinogens" known to man while they guarded a water treatment plant in Iraq that the company was repairing.

The complaint alleges that several reservists contracted respiratory system tumors and skin rashes after guarding reconstruction work at the Qarmat Ali treatment plant, which had been looted and was strewn with chromium dichromate, an anticorrosion substance used on pipes that greatly increases the chances of developing cancer and other health problems.

KBR managers "disregarded and downplayed the extreme danger of wholesale site contamination," alleges the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Indiana. The lawsuit accuses the company of gross negligence, alleging that reservists "were repeatedly told that there was no danger on the site" even after tests on civilian KBR workers showed elevated levels of chromium.

KBR was under a deadline to finish repairs on the plant, which pumped water to Iraq's oil fields. It knew in April 2003 that the chemical was harmful but did not clean the site until September, according to internal company memos filed in the case.

[w8liftinglady]

5. from 2009

Pentagon Knowingly Exposed U.S. Soldiers To Toxic Waste: Leaked Memo


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=18a_1236720892

A newly leaked military document appears to show the Pentagon knowingly exposed US troops to toxic chemicals that cause cancer, while publicly downplaying the risks exposure might cause.

The document, written by an environmental engineering flight commander in December of 200 More..6 and posted on Wikileaks (PDF) on Tuesday, details the risks posed to US troops in Iraq by burning garbage at a US airbase. It enumerates myriad risks posed by the practice and identifies various carcinogens released by incinerating waste in open-air pits.

Because of the difficulties in testing samples, investigators could not prove that chemicals exceeded military exposure guidelines. But a military document released last December found that chemicals routinely exceeded safe levels by twice to six times.

The leaked report was signed off by the chief for the Air Force's aeromedical services. Its subject is Balad Airbase, a large US military base about 70 kilometers north of Baghdad.

[w8liftinglady]

6. from 2010

http://www.environment.co.za/poisoning-carcinogens-heavy-metals-mining/iraq-a-afghanistan-heavily-contaminated-with-uranium.html

Civilian populations in Afghanistan and Iraq and occupying troops have been contaminated with astounding levels of radioactive depleted and non-depleted uranium as a result of post-9/11 United States’ use of tons of uranium munitions. Researchers say surrounding countries are bound to feel the effects as well.
In 2003 scientists from the Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC) studied urine samples of Afghan civilians and found that 100% of the samples taken had levels of non-depleted uranium (NDU) 400% to 2000% higher than normal levels. The UMRC research team studied six sites, two in Kabul and others in the Jalalabad area. The civilians were tested four months after the attacks in Afghanistan by the United States and its allies.
NDU is more radioactive than depleted uranium (DU), which itself is charged with causing many cancers and severe birth defects in the Iraqi population–especially children–over the past ten years. Four million pounds of radioactive uranium was dropped on Iraq in 2003 alone. Uranium dust will be in the bodies of our returning armed forces. Nine soldiers from the 442nd Military Police serving in Iraq were tested for DU contamination in December 2003. Conducted at the request of The News, as the U.S. government considers the cost of $1,000 per affected soldier prohibitive, the test found that four of the nine men were contaminated with high levels of DU, likely caused by inhaling dust from depleted uranium shells fired by U.S. troops. Several of the men had traces of another uranium isotope, U-236, that are produced only in a nuclear reaction process.
Most American weapons (missiles, smart bombs, dumb bombs, bullets, tank shells, cruise missiles, etc.) contain high amounts of radioactive uranium. Depleted or non-depleted, these types of weapons, on detonation, release a radioactive dust which, when inhaled, goes into the body and stays there. It has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Basically, it’s a permanently available contaminant, distributed in the environment, where dust storms or any water nearby can disperse it. Once ingested, it releases subatomic particles that slice through DNA.
UMRC’s Field Team found several hundred Afghan civilians with acute symptoms of radiation poisoning along with chronic symptoms of internal uranium contamination, including congenital problems in newborns. Local civilians reported large, dense dust clouds and smoke plumes rising from the point of impact, an acrid smell, followed by burning of the nasal passages, throat and upper respiratory tract. Subjects in all locations presented identical symptom profiles and chronologies. The victims reported symptoms including pain in the cervical column, upper shoulders and basal area of the skull, lower back/kidney pain, joint and muscle weakness, sleeping difficulties, headaches, memory problems and disorientation.
At the Uranium Weapons Conference held October 2003 in Hamburg, Germany, independent scientists from around the world testified to a huge increase in birth deformities and cancers wherever NDU and DU had been used. Professor Katsuma Yagasaki, a scientist at the Ryukyus University, Okinawa calculated that the 800 tons of DU used in Afghanistan is the radioactive equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The amount of DU used in Iraq is equivalent to 250,000 Nagasaki bombs.

[w8liftinglady]

7. from 2010

http://www.dcbureau.org/Contractor-Abuse/

KBR Denied $20 million; Less than a Time Out but More than a Slap on the Wrist

The greatest risk for in Iraq didn’t come from enemy fire. Maseth was electrocuted to death due to U.S. private military contractor KBR Inc.’s shoddy electrical work. Now, for the first time, KBR is losing millions of dollars as a consequence. The Army decided to deny KBR bonuses, which were routinely awarded to the firm for “excellent” work.

According to KBR’s Security and Exchange Commission 8-K filing, they have been denied $20 million so far. Barry Piatt, press secretary for Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), said, “The AP reported the figure at $25 million, but we are not sure where they got that figure.” If KBR’s SEC filing is accurate, $20 million could be just the beginning. If this review process continues, they’re expecting to lose $132 million in award fees for their work from January 2008 through December 2009. A press release from the Democratic Policy Committee on Thursday said that this is the “right call,” but only a “first step.” Senator Dorgan, the soon to retire chairman of the DPC, sat through 21 hearings about waste, fraud and corruption in military contracting since 2003. His countless hours listening to accounts of KBR’s “widespread sloppy contracting work that killed soldiers,” impacted KBR little, until now. Dorgan said that the Army’s decision “will send a long overdue message to military contractors that they will be held accountable for their performance, but the Army needs to send that message much more powerfully.”

HUGE AMOUNT OF FOLLOW-UP AT SITE....

[w8liftinglady]

8. well..here is the fucking reply that many of the initial vets received

http://phc.amedd.army.mil/PHC%20Resource%20Library/POEMS.pdf

cut

Then there are the general problems with environmental epidemiology trying to “prove” a
health problem is caused by an exposure, a few of which will only be noted in this paper.
1. Is there causality and/or health effects data for the contaminant being assessed? For
example the issue of chronic health effects with particulate matter (PM10).
2. Is there good health outcome surveillance data for the exposed population? This can
often be an issue in deployment situations.
3. Is there a completed pathway for the contaminant? Just because something is measured
in the environment does not mean an exposure has occurred.
4. Environmental exposures are often low level and chronic and lead to subtle and/or nonspecific
health effects or if they are specific like cancer may take decades to develop. Often the
non-specific health effect can be caused by many other chemicals.
5. The elevation of the “level of risk” from exposure to environmental contaminants is often
small and difficult to detect.
6. Controlling for all the potential confounding factors, such as, occupational exposures,
smoking, is the population healthier, etc.
Clearly it is very difficult to relate general environmental sample data from a site to an
individual that is stationed on the site for the reasons stated above, from how much time the
individual actually spends on the site to how much data is available to characterize the site.
However, the DOD has come a long way since the ODS in characterizing, in general terms, what
and how much Service members are exposed to when deployed. The data, in most cases is not
individual, so it does not belong in an individual medical record; however, it should be readily
available to the Service member and the physicians who care for the Service member to ensure
they have the most complete information available about potential environmental conditions
where the service member was located during deployment.


In other words...PROVE IT TO US!

[spanone]

9. k&r