High rates of respiratory symptoms (14%) and new-onset asthma in previously healthy soldiers (6.6%) have been reported among military personnel post-deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. The term Iraq/Afghanistan War-Lung Injury (IAW-LI) is used to describe the constellation of respiratory diseases related to hazards of war, such as exposure to burning trash in burn pits, improvised explosive devices, and sandstorms. Burnpits360.org is a nonprofit civilian website which voluntarily tracks medical symptoms among soldiers post-deployment to the Middle East. Subsequent to initiation of the Burnpits360.org website, the Department of Veterans Affairs started the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit registry. This paper: (a) analyzes the latest 38 patients in the Burnpits360.org registry, validated by DD214 Forms; (b) compares strengths and weaknesses of both registries as outlined at the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine Burn Pits Workshop;
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1557988315619005 | DOI Listing |
Risk Manag Healthc Policy
January 2025
Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
Purpose: Waste mismanagement is a growing concern in developing countries where unsustainable practices such as open dumping and open burning are rampant. This study examined the risk perceptions of the residents living in proximity to the Brahmapuram dump yard, situated in Ernakulam district of Kerala State, India- A site marked by persistent local protests, public outrage, and legal disputes arising from issues related to waste mismanagement. The study focused on the geospatial and sociodemographic factors that might influence these perceptions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOccup Environ Med
December 2024
Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Introduction: Five million US Veterans had possible exposure to open burn pits used for waste disposal through service in Iraq (2003-2011) and Afghanistan (2001-2014). Burn pits generate toxic exposures that may be associated with adverse health outcomes. We examined all-cause and cause-specific mortality in relation to deployment to bases with open burn pits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToxicol Sci
December 2024
Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma, and Lung Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
Inhalation of smoke from burn pits during military deployment is associated with several adverse pulmonary outcomes. We exposed human airway epithelial cells to smoke condensates from burn pit waste materials. Single and repeated exposure of condensates triggered unique and common responses in terms of gene expression, that sustained through the recovery phase.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMil Med
December 2024
Research Service, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN 55417, USA.
The U.S. Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act expands benefits and services to U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany veterans and their advocates are concerned that military service may cause impaired respiratory function resulting from occupational exposures to environmental hazards (e.g., Agent Orange in the Vietnam War, burn pits in the Global War on Terror) or infectious diseases (e.
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