Mortality Among U.S. Gulf War Veterans Who Were Potentially Exposed to Nerve Gas at Khamisiyah, Irag.

摘要

In March 1991, U.S. troops destroyed an Iraqi ammunition storage complex at Khamisiyah, Iraq. The Khamisiyah complex consists of nearly 200 storage bunkers and buildings and it covers a 25 km2 area. Those performing the demolition were unaware of the presence of ammunitions containing the nerve agents, sarin and cyclosarin. At the time of the demolition there were no medical reports by the U.S. Army Medical Corps that were consistent with signs and symptoms of acute sarin gas exposure. Also, there were no confirmed detections of chemical agents by monitoring equipment. While inspecting the demolition site 8 months later, representatives from the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) found artillery shells and rockets containing nerve agents. In response to the UN findings and the mounting concerns for the health of US military personnel who were in the area of Khamisiyah at the time of the weapons demolitions, the Department of Defense (DoD) conducted exposure modeling to determine the extent of exposure to nerve agents among U.S. military personnel. The result of this modeling effort was the identification of troops assigned to the units situated under the projected path of the nerve agent plume. The first model was developed in 1997, and is known as the 1997 exposure model. Improving upon the 1997 model, DoD developed a newer model in 2000, known as the 2000 model. According to both DoD Models, a large number of U.S. troops, approximately 100,000, may have been exposed to extremely low level of nerve agents as a result of the Khamisiyah demolition incidence on March 10, 1991.