Initial studies not conclusive on whether toxics in Person Gulf caused breathing problems among vets

Officials of the National Academy of Engineering Medicine said it’s too early to tell if veterans suffering from respiratory problems acquired the problems during service in Iraq and Afghanistan from open burn pits, diesel exhaust and other carcinogens during the Gulf War and later conflicts.

“New approaches are needed to better answer whether respiratory health issues are associated with deployment," Mark Utell, physician and professor of medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said on the Academy’s website. “The current uncertainty should not be interpreted as meaning that there is no association — rather, the issue is that the available data are of insufficient quality to draw definitive conclusions.”

Utell is chairman of a committee that wrote a new report on the possible exposure veterans had in the Middle East leading to cancer, asthma, bronchitis and sinusitis. He added that a partnership between the National Academy of Engineering Medicine and the Veterans Administration (VA) could provide future studies that would lead to more complete answers.   “The committee believes it is possible today to conduct well-designed studies that will provide more clarity to veterans who are seeking to understand the respiratory problems they are experiencing,” Utell said.

Persistent coughing or wheezing among veterans of the Gulf Conflicts dating from 1992 and the Post 9-11 actions led to the study. Researchers suspect exposure to oil well fires and smoke, burn pit emissions, blowing dust and exhaust from military vehicles and industrial pollution in the Gulf region.

The results of the initial study were inconclusive. Researchers said it did not take into consideration a number of other factors including the smoking of cigarettes among veterans.

“Mortality reports have not consistently broken out deaths from respiratory disease, making it difficult to assess the extent of harm caused by airborne exposures,” the study said, according to the Academy's website.

New approaches are needed to determine if deployment to the Persian Gulf caused the respiratory problems suffered by veterans, the report concluded.