[CPEO-MEF] GLOBAL, HEALTH: "Study: Soil dust suspected in illnesses among Iraq vets"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Study: Soil dust suspected in illnesses among Iraq vets
Navy researcher says DoD falls short in addressing threat


By Patricia Kime 
Air Force Times
February 20, 2014

When Army Sgt. Jayson Williams deployed to Iraq in 2003, he was a healthy 33-year-old who enjoyed the outdoors, running and playing with his son.

When he returned home, he found he couldn’t do routine chores without becoming exhausted or needing to take deep breaths.

He deployed twice more, and his condition worsened. First thought to be emphysema, his diagnosis later was changed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. And after having an invasive lung biopsy, he received even grimmer news — constrictive bronchiolitis, an irreversible lung disease that robs a patient of lung function.

Williams thinks his condition is the result of smoke from a burn pit near his barracks and fumes of a sulfur mine fire that raged for a month near Mosul, spewing toxic materials into the air.

But a growing body of research indicates another factor may contribute to long-term respiratory diseases of veterans like Williams: microscopic dust particles containing heavy metals and other toxins.

…

For the entire article, see
http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140220/NEWS/302200031/Study-Soil-dust-suspected-illnesses-among-Iraq-vets

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650-961-8918 or 650-969-1545
Fax: 650-961-8918
LSiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org




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