Long-Term Follow-Up of Veterans Experimentally Exposed to Sarin and Other Anticholinesterase Chemical Warfare Agents

摘要

Between 1955 and 1975, the US Army enrolled volunteers in an experimental exposure program of chemical warfare and other agents at the Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. In 1980 the National Research Council issued a report on the health status of test subjects which included 1,581 men exposed to anticholinesterase agents. The current study is a continued follow-up of the same subjects, including two control groups whose subjects were not exposed to anticholinesterase agents. The current study collected morbidity data via telephone survey on the following primary outcomes: somatization disorder, memory and attention problems, peripheral nerve disease, vestibular function, depression, generalized anxiety, sleep disturbance, and birth defects. In general, there were few statistically significant differences in these outcomes among the study groups. In contrast, self-reported non-experimental exposure was associated with higher levels of almost all outcomes, although this association could be due to reporting bias. This suggests that if there were any true long- term health effects associated with anticholinesterase exposure, they are probably smaller than those associated with self-reported non-experimental exposure to hazardous chemicals. These results were published in Military Medicine, Vol. 168, March 2003, pp. 239-45.