Review of the Toxicologic and Radiologic Risks to Military Personnel from Exposures to Depleted Uranium During and After Combat

Review of the Toxicologic and Radiologic Risks to Military Personnel from Exposures to Depleted Uranium During and After Combat
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2008-06-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 030911036X

Since the 1980s, the U.S. military has used depleted uranium in munitions and in protective armor on tanks. Depleted uranium is a toxic heavy metal and is weakly radioactive. Concerns have been raised about the adverse health effects from exposure to depleted uranium that is aerosolized during combat. Some think it may be responsible for illnesses in exposed veterans and civilians. These concerns led the Army to commission a book, Depleted Uranium Aerosol Doses and Risks: Summary of U.S. Assessments, referred to as the Capstone Report that evaluates the health risks associated with depleted uranium exposure. This National Research Council book reviews the toxicologic, radiologic, epidemiologic, and toxicokinetic data on depleted uranium, and assesses the Army's estimates of health risks to personnel exposed during and after combat. The book recommends that the Army re-evaluate the basis for some of its predictions about health outcomes at low levels of exposure, but, overall, the Capstone Report was judged to provide a reasonable characterization of the exposure and risks from depleted uranium.

Gulf War and Health

Gulf War and Health
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2008-10-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309119197

The 1991 Persian Gulf War was considered a brief and successful military operation with few injuries and deaths. A large number of returning veterans, however, soon began reporting health problems that they believed to be associated with their service in the gulf. Under a Congressional mandate, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) is reviewing a wide array of biologic, chemical, and physical agents to determine if exposure to these agents may be responsible for the veterans' health problems. In a 2000 report, Gulf War and Health, Volume 1: Depleted Uranium, Sarin, Pyridostigmine Bromide, and Vaccines, the IOM concluded that there was not enough evidence to draw conclusions as to whether long-term health problems are associated with exposure to depleted uranium, a component of some military munitions and armor. In response to veterans' ongoing concerns and recent publications in the literature, IOM updated its 2000 report. In this most recent report, Gulf War and Health: Updated Literature Review of Depleted Uranium, the committee concluded that there is still not enough evidence to determine whether exposure to depleted uranium is associated with long-term health problems. The report was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2016-09-26
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0309449189

Extremely hazardous substances can be released accidentally as a result of chemical spills, industrial explosions, fires, or accidents involving railroad cars and trucks transporting EHSs. Workers and residents in communities surrounding industrial facilities where these substances are manufactured, used, or stored and in communities along the nation's railways and highways are potentially at risk of being exposed to airborne EHSs during accidental releases or intentional releases by terrorists. Pursuant to the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified approximately 400 EHSs on the basis of acute lethality data in rodents. Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals, Volume 20 reviews and updates the technical support document on acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) for selected chloroformates. This update focuses on establishing AEGL-3 values for n-propyl chloroformate and isopropyl chloroformate, but will also consider whether any new data are available that would affect the proposed values for the other 10 chloroformates. AEGLs represent threshold exposure limits (exposure levels below which adverse health effects are not likely to occur) for the general public and are applicable to emergency exposures ranging from 10 minutes (min) to 8 h. Three levels - AEGL-1, AEGL-2, and AEGL-3 - are developed for each of five exposure periods (10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 4 h, and 8 h) and are distinguished by varying degrees of severity of toxic effects. This report will inform planning, response, and prevention in the community, the workplace, transportation, the military, and the remediation of Superfund sites.

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.

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.

New War Technologies and International Law

New War Technologies and International Law
Author: Kobi Leins
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2022-02-03
Genre: Law
ISBN: 110887181X

The desire for humanity and the desire for security have co-existed as long as humans have been alive. As science has become increasingly sophisticated, so have the methods of self-defence by States. Nanotechnology is already changing warfare by increasing capabilities upon which armed forces are heavily reliant: more efficient energy storage, advanced photovoltaics, and improved military protective equipment to name a few of these developments. Some applications of nanomaterials by the military are both powerful and subtle, and have neurological and biological applications: 'devices that can infiltrate electronics and seize control at crucial moments, artificial “disease” agents that can rest harmlessly in victims' bodies until activated by an external signal'. The advance of the use or contemplation of use of these types of nanoscale applications by the military requires urgent analysis in light of existing international law, particularly in light of their potential effects on humans and on the environment.

Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States

Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States
Author: United States. Congress. House
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1952
Release: 2003
Genre: CD-ROMs
ISBN:

Some vols. include supplemental journals of "such proceedings of the sessions, as, during the time they were depending, were ordered to be kept secret, and respecting which the injunction of secrecy was afterwards taken off by the order of the House".

Gulf War and Health

Gulf War and Health
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 519
Release: 2018-12-20
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 030947826X

For the United States, the 1991 Persian Gulf War was a brief and successful military operation with few injuries and deaths. However, soon after returning from duty, a large number of veterans began reporting health problems they believed were associated with their service in the Gulf. At the request of Congress, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has been conducting an ongoing review of the evidence to determine veterans' long-term health problems and potential causes. Some of the health effects identified by past reports include post-traumatic stress disorders, other mental health disorders, Gulf War illness, respiratory effects, and self-reported sexual dysfunction. Veterans' concerns regarding the impacts of deployment-related exposures on their health have grown to include potential adverse effects on the health of their children and grandchildren. These concerns now increasingly involve female veterans, as more women join the military and are deployed to war zones and areas that pose potential hazards. Gulf War and Health: Volume 11 evaluates the scientific and medical literature on reproductive and developmental effects and health outcomes associated with Gulf War and Post-9/11 exposures, and designates research areas requiring further scientific study on potential health effects in the descendants of veterans of any era.

Uranium Mining in Virginia

Uranium Mining in Virginia
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2012-09-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309220874

Uranium mining in the Commonwealth of Virginia has been prohibited since 1982 by a state moratorium, although approval for restricted uranium exploration in the state was granted in 2007. Uranium Mining in Virginia examines the scientific, technical, environmental, human health and safety, and regulatory aspects of uranium mining, milling, and processing as they relate to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of assisting the Commonwealth to determine whether uranium mining, milling, and processing can be undertaken in a manner that safeguards the environment, natural and historic resources, agricultural lands, and the health and well-being of its citizens. According to this report, if Virginia lifts its moratorium, there are "steep hurdles to be surmounted" before mining and processing could take place within a regulatory setting that appropriately protects workers, the public, and the environment, especially given that the state has no experience regulating mining and processing of the radioactive element. The authoring committee was not asked to recommend whether uranium mining should be permitted, or to consider the potential benefits to the state were uranium mining to be pursued. It also was not asked to compare the relative risks of uranium mining to the mining of other fuels such as coal. This book will be of interest to decision makers at the state and local level, the energy industry, and concerned citizens.

Congressional Record

Congressional Record
Author: United States. Congress
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1448
Release: 2008
Genre: Law
ISBN:

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)