NIOSH testimony on Kuwait by P. Seligman, September 16, 1992.

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  This testimony summarizes potential adverse health effects related to service in the Persian Gulf as presented by the Department of Health and Human Services. An estimated 9,000 workers from 43 different countries battled the burning oil wells in Kuwait from February 1991 through early November 1991 when the last was capped. Exposures and health effects in US military personnel, Kuwaiti citizens, and fire fighters were described. The hazards to the soldiers were largely dependent on the concentration of the pollutants in the air near the camps. Fortunately, the plume from the fires rose up to 10,000 and 12,000 feet, mixed with the air and then dispersed for several thousand miles downwind over a period of several weeks. The particles and gases contained in the plume were diluted as the plume traveled. Even so, some minor respiratory problems were present among the soldiers. Some of the hydrocarbons measured at low concentrations have been shown to produce cancer in laboratory animals only when present at higher levels of exposure. Based on the exposure information gathered, the author concludes that there will not likely be a detectable increase in lung cancer in Gulf War Veterans as a result of the oil well fires.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Preceptorship Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Ventilation Workplace
• Keywords:
  Cancer-rates Environmental-exposure Lung-disease Military-personnel NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Testimony Occupational-exposure Pulmonary-function Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-analysis Seligman-P

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• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Testimony
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-14
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00210244
• Citation:
  NIOSH 1992 Sep; :1-14
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• NORA Priority Area:
  Respiratory-system-disorders
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  NIOSH
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e106129e99c0b8efcbadcf01ed16afb7d09c51a68b3c4046066b90878ab4f1eae93d84988a6c072e94308e275f48a9d58a3d64f6389254e2839ff7d00ac4ede0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/180774/cdc_180774_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 512.91 KB ]