[CPEO-MEF] Gulf War syndrome study absolves chemical weapons

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Gulf War syndrome study absolves chemical weapons
09/25/02
ANDY DWORKIN

Oregon researchers published a study Tuesday indicating that soldiers
who may have encountered small amounts of chemical weapons during the
1991 Gulf War do not seem to be sicker than other veterans of that war
with Iraq.

But troops who served anywhere in the Middle East during the war do seem
to have more chronic illnesses than U.S. soldiers who served outside the
Persian Gulf region in 1991.

Since low-level chemical weapon exposure does not seem to be the cause
of Gulf War syndrome, the source of those health complaints remains "an
open question," said Peter Spencer, one of the researchers and an expert
on toxic substances at Oregon Health and Science University.

"It's believed the Gulf War syndrome has a significant stress
component," Spencer said, contributing to problems such as depression
and heart disease. "That's consistent with the data we have."

The study also indicates that chemical weapons incinerators, such as one
the U.S. Army is preparing to start up at Umatilla, should not release
enough nerve agent in their exhaust gas to cause long-term health
problems, Spencer said. Army officials have designed the incinerator to
destroy at least 99.99 percent of the chemical weapons they feed in, he
said. While that means a small fraction will escape, the design "appears
to be protective for community health," said Spencer, who advises an
Army incinerator in Arkansas.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/front_page/1032954942321611.xml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~