Assessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry

Assessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2017-04-28
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309451175

Military operations produce a great deal of trash in an environment where standard waste management practices may be subordinated to more pressing concerns. As a result, ground forces have long relied on incineration in open-air pits as a means of getting rid of refuse. Concerns over possible adverse effects of exposure to smoke from trash burning in the theater were first expressed in the wake of the 1990â€"1991 Gulf War and stimulated a series of studies that indicated that exposures to smoke from oil-well fires and from other combustion sources, including waste burning, were stressors for troops. In January 2013, Congress directed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and maintain a registry for service members who may have been exposed to toxic airborne chemicals and fumes generated by open burn pits. Assessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry analyzes the initial months of data collected by the registry and offers recommendations on ways to improve the instrument and best use the information it collects. This report assesses the effectiveness of the VA's information gathering efforts and provides recommendations for addressing the future medical needs of the affected groups, and provides recommendations on collecting, maintaining, and monitoring information collected by the VA's Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry.

Respiratory Health Effects of Airborne Hazards Exposures in the Southwest Asia Theater of Military Operations

Respiratory Health Effects of Airborne Hazards Exposures in the Southwest Asia Theater of Military Operations
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2020-10-23
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309679109

More than 3.7 million U.S. service members have participated in operations taking place in the Southwest Asia Theater of Military Operations since 1990. These operations include the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War, a post-war stabilization period spanning 1992 through September 2001, and the campaigns undertaken in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Deployment to Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Afghanistan exposed service members to a number of airborne hazards, including oil-well fire smoke, emissions from open burn pits, dust and sand suspended in the air, and exhaust from diesel vehicles. The effects of these were compounded by stressors like excessive heat and noise that are inevitable attributes of service in a combat environment. Respiratory Health Effects of Airborne Hazards Exposures in the Southwest Asia Theater of Military Operations reviews the scientific evidence regarding respiratory health outcomes in veterans of the Southwest Asia conflicts and identifies research that could feasibly be conducted to address outstanding questions and generate answers, newly emerging technologies that could aid in these efforts, and organizations that the Veterans Administration might partner with to accomplish this work.

Long-Term Health Consequences of Exposure to Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan

Long-Term Health Consequences of Exposure to Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2011-10-31
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 030921758X

Many veterans returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have health problems they believe are related to their exposure to the smoke from the burning of waste in open-air "burn pits" on military bases. Particular controversy surrounds the burn pit used to dispose of solid waste at Joint Base Balad in Iraq, which burned up to 200 tons of waste per day in 2007. The Department of Veterans Affairs asked the IOM to form a committee to determine the long-term health effects from exposure to these burn pits. Insufficient evidence prevented the IOM committee from developing firm conclusions. This report, therefore, recommends that, along with more efficient data-gathering methods, a study be conducted that would evaluate the health status of service members from their time of deployment over many years to determine their incidence of chronic diseases.

Airborne Hazards Related to Deployment

Airborne Hazards Related to Deployment
Author: Coleen P. Baird
Publisher: Department of the Army
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2015
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN:

NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRINT PRODUCT-- OVERSTOCK SALE -- Significantly reduced list price Developed from the Airborne Hazards Symposium held in Washington, DC, in August 2012, this book covers diagnosis and workup of symptomatic individuals, exposure characterization, current epidemiology, the potential role of pulmonary function testing (spirometry) in surveillance, strategic research planning, clinical follow-up and registries, risk communication, etc. Symposium presentations were delivered by a diverse group of scientific experts and contain valuable veteran perspectives. This book represents a compendium of what is currently known regarding the potential long-term health consequences of exposure to airborne hazards during Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn deployments. Airborne Hazards Related to Deployment presents a balanced, comprehensive approach to furthering the understanding of airborne hazards during deployments and other military operations, ultimately improving airborne hazard prevention, protection, and avoidance while improving healthcare and minimizing adverse health outcomes of our service members and veterans.

Airborne Hazards Related to Deployment

Airborne Hazards Related to Deployment
Author: The Borden Institute, U.S. Army Medical Department
Publisher: Government Printing Office
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2015-04-30
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0160939011

Developed from the Airborne Hazards Symposium held in Washington, DC, in August 2012, this book covers diagnosis and workup of symptomatic individuals, exposure characterization, current epidemiology, the potential role of pulmonary function testing (spirometry) in surveillance, strategic research planning, clinical follow-up and registries, risk communication, etc. Symposium presentations were delivered by a diverse group of scientific experts and contain valuable veteran perspectives. This book represents a compendium of what is currently known regarding the potential long-term health consequences of exposure to airborne hazards during Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn deployments. Airborne Hazards Related to Deployment presents a balanced, comprehensive approach to furthering the understanding of airborne hazards during deployments and other military operations, ultimately improving airborne hazard prevention, protection, and avoidance while improving healthcare and minimizing adverse health outcomes of our service members and veterans.

Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan

Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2010-03-31
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309152852

Nearly 1.9 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001. Many service members and veterans face serious challenges in readjusting to normal life after returning home. This initial book presents findings on the most critical challenges, and lays out the blueprint for the second phase of the study to determine how best to meet the needs of returning troops and their families.

The Burn Pits

The Burn Pits
Author: Joseph Hickman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2019-07-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1510743200

“There’s a whole chapter on my son Beau… He was co-located [twice] near these burn pits.” –Joe Biden, former Vice President of the United States of America The Agent Orange of the 21st Century… Thousands of American soldiers are returning from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan with severe wounds from chemical war. They are not the victims of ruthless enemy warfare, but of their own military commanders. These soldiers, afflicted with rare cancers and respiratory diseases, were sickened from the smoke and ash swirling out of the “burn pits” where military contractors incinerated mountains of trash, including old stockpiles of mustard and sarin gas, medical waste, and other toxic material. This shocking work, now for the first time in paperback, includes: Illustration of the devastation in one soldier’s intimate story A plea for help Connection between the burn pits and Major Biden’s unfortunate suffering and death The burn pits’ effects on native citizens of Iraq: mothers, fathers, and children Denial from the Department of Defense and others Warning signs that were ignored and much more Based on thousands of government documents, over five hundred in-depth medical case studies, and interviews with more than one thousand veterans and active-duty GIs, The Burn Pits will shock the nation. The book is more than an explosive work of investigative journalism—it is the deeply moving chronicle of the many young men and women who signed up to serve their country in the wake of 9/11, only to return home permanently damaged, the victims of their own armed forces’ criminal negligence.

Strategies to Protect the Health of Deployed U.S. Forces

Strategies to Protect the Health of Deployed U.S. Forces
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2000-04-21
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309068754

Since Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Gulf War veterans have expressed concerns about health effects that could be associated with their deployment and service during the war. Although similar concerns were raised after other military operations, the Gulf War deployment focused national attention on the potential, but uncertain, relationship between the presence of chemical and biological (CB) agents and other harmful agents in theater and health symptoms reported by military personnel. Strategies to Protect the Health of Deployed U.S. Forces which is one of the four two-year studies, examines the detection and tracking of exposures of deployed personnel to multiple harmful agents.

Health Consequences of Service During the Persian Gulf War

Health Consequences of Service During the Persian Gulf War
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 205
Release: 1996-10-10
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309175526

In January 1995 the Institute of Medicine released a preliminary report containing initial findings and recommendations on the federal government's response to reports by some veterans and their families that they were suffering from illnesses related to military service in the Persian Gulf War. The committee was asked to review the government's means of collecting and maintaining information for assessing the health consequences of military service and to recommend improvements and epidemiological studies if warranted. This new volume reflects an additional year of study by the committee and the full results of its three-year effort.