Gulf War and Health, Volume 2: Insecticides and Solvents

Details

• Personal Author:
  Aschengrau A ; Becker LA ; Colwill JM ; Cory-Slechta DA ; Daniell WE ; Ehrich MF ; Feinleib M ; Feldman RG ; Goldberg MS ; Goldman LR ; Goldman RH ; Goldner R ; Goldsmith DF ; Harris C ; Hauserr RB ; Kirsch JL ; Komaroff AL ; Lefevre ML ; Mayeux R ; McCurdy SA ; Mohr S ; Narahashi T ; Nylander-French LA ; O'Malley, Michael A. ; Poole C ; Potolicchio SJ ; Redlich CA ; Rodricks JV ; Rosenman, Kenneth D. ; Smith MA ; Sweeney AM ; Thomas PRM ; Valentine WM ; Vena JE ; Welch LS ; Wolfson C ; Zheng T
• Description:
  More than a decade has passed since the Gulf War. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, about 700,000 US military personnel were deployed to the Persian Gulf. Air attacks against Iraqi forces began on January 2, 1991, and the ground war followed between February 24 and 28. Despite the short duration and the small number of immediate casualties, allied forces were exposed to the horrors of war and to many noxious substances. After the war, large numbers of veterans suffered from a variety of symptoms characterized in part by fatigue, headache, difficulties of cognition, and vague arthralgias. Studies of military personnel clearly demonstrate that the prevalence of those symptoms has been higher in those deployed to the Persian Gulf than in those not deployed. Veterans, Congress, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) all have been deeply concerned about the etiology of the symptoms that were so prevalent among Gulf War veterans. As a result of requests by Congress, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has embarked on a series of studies to review the health effects of many of the biologic, chemical, and environmental agents to which veterans may have been exposed. Our committee was charged in the second study to review the literature on the long-term human health effects of insecticides and solvents thought to have been used in the Gulf War. Because of the large volume of literature on those compounds, IOM appointed a 37-member committee, one of the largest committees in its history. Our committee is composed of epidemiologists, toxicologists, industrial hygienists, and physicians with expertise in a number of relevant fields, including occupational medicine, neurology, dermatology, oncology, family medicine, and internal medicine. The task of this committee was to identify for review the literature that focused on the insecticides and solvents to which Gulf War veterans may have been exposed. DOD, VA, RAND researchers, and Gulf War veterans provided information about the agents used. The committee addressed the full scope of health effects that are potentially associated with insecticides and solvents, not just the veterans' symptoms. It focused on human studies of long-term effects that might follow exposure to those agents, inasmuch as veterans' symptoms have continued long after the war. The primary literature reviewed was epidemiologic studies of various occupational groups; when available, studies of Gulf War veterans were included in the committee's analysis. Experimental data and toxicologic studies provided information about the acute and long-term effects of insecticides and solvents on humans and animals and about plausible biologic mechanisms of adverse health outcomes. The committee placed its conclusions in categories of strength of evidence. Similar categories were used in Volume 1 of Gulf War and Health and in numerous other IOM studies. Given the varied expertise and judgment within the committee, members occasionally differed in their interpretation of findings. In some instances committee members, even after careful deliberation, could not reach consensus on the category of association for a particular conclusion. In those instances, the committee presents no conclusion but discusses both points of view in the chapter and notes where additional research might be needed to draw more definitive conclusions. Although the committee found associations between exposure to insecticides or solvents and some diseases and symptoms in some occupational groups, it was faced with a paucity of data regarding exposure for veterans. Therefore, it could not extrapolate from findings in published studies to the likelihood that veterans' illnesses are related to exposure to insecticides or solvents. Despite the many challenges faced by the committee as it reviewed the epidemiologic literature, it arrived at numerous conclusions regarding associations. We hope that our review will be helpful not only for veterans but also for other groups interested in the long-term health outcomes of exposure to insecticides and solvents. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Chemistry Delivery Of Health Care Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Epidemiology Fatigue Hazardous Substances Insecticides Nervous System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Solvents Toxicology

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• Keywords:
  Biological Agents Chemical Agents Chemical Composition Chemical Hazards Chemical Properties Chemical Reactions Chemicals Chemical Warfare Agents Cognitive Function Environmental Exposure Environmental Hazards Etiology Exposure Levels Hazards Health Effects Health Hazards Medical Care Military Personnel Pesticides Risk Factors

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• ISBN:
  9780309113892
• Publisher:
  The National Academies Press
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Colorado ; District of Columbia ; Florida ; Illinois ; Maryland ; Massachusetts ; Missouri ; New York ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Virginia ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20060285
• Citation:
  Gorssblatt N, Kelly K Eds. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003 Jan; 2:1-616
• Editor(s):
  Gorssblatt N; Kelly K
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20030701
• Source Full Name:
  Gulf War and health, volume 2: insecticides and solvents
• End Date:
  20050630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:56bab4b141eb61a88607b810882e1686c89874a1100f9cf66a40c9a4f9f2b467fe6af85f60757a309d05d0fa1a21220c45d50af1c47bb1eeb9177282f2e2ae83
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/224235/cdc_224235_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 15.50 MB ]