Burn pit

Abstract: Objective:The aim of this study was to determine how burn pit emissions exposure is associated with the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular conditions.Methods:We examined the associations between assumed geographic and self-reported burn pit emissions exposure and respiratory and cardiovascu

Abstract: Objective:To investigate the relationship between chronic multisymptom illness (CMI) and possible exposure to an open-air burn pit at three selected bases among those deployed to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.Methods:Chronic multisymptom illness (reporting at least one symptom in at least two o

Abstract: Military operations produce a great deal of trash in an environment where standard waste management practices may be subordinated to more pressing concerns. As a result, ground forces have long relied on incineration in open-air pits as a means of getting rid of refuse. Concerns over possible adverse effects of exposure to smoke from trash burning in the theater were first expressed in the wake of the 1990–1991 Gulf War and stimulated a series of studies that indicated that exposures to smoke from oil-well fires and from other combustion sources, including waste burning, were stressors for troops. In January 2013, Congress directed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and maintain a registry for service members who may have been exposed to toxic airborne chemicals and fumes generated by open burn pits. Assessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry analyzes the initial months of data collected by the registry and offers recommendations on ways to improve the instrument and best use the information it collects. This report assesses the effectiveness of the VA's information gathering efforts and provides recommendations for addressing the future medical needs of the affected groups, and provides recommendations on collecting, maintaining, and monitoring information collected by the VA's Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry.

Abstract: : Background Recently, there has been concern that service members deploying in support of the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan may have higher odds of developing chronic diseases, such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, as a result of environmental and occupational exposures that have been associated with these diseases in the general US population. One such exposure garnering much attention from media and veterans groups suggest smoke from open-air burning of trash and other waste in theater is contributing to widespread illness. Methods Of the 63,590 participants who completed both the 2004?2006 and 2007?2008 questionnaires, exclusions included those who affirmatively reported disease to all provider-diagnosed medical conditions, reported ever having lupus or rheumatoid arthritis prior to or on the 2004?2006 survey assessment, did not complete the outcome responses, were in the Navy or Marine Corps, never deployed between 2003 and 2007?2008 survey assessments, experienced a first deployment or exposure to a documented burn pit after newly reporting either outcome, or were missing any covariates of interest. Results 3201 and 3145 participants from the respective lupus and rheumatoid arthritis study populations identified with at least one deployment to an area within a 3-mile radius of a documented open-air burn pit. After adjustment, proximity to a documented 3-mile burn pit was not significantly associated with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus in general. Conclusions Results indicate deployers exposed to documented burn pits in the combined three-camp analysis were not at an elevated risk of lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.