ENVIRONMENTAL CARCINOGENS IN SOUTH IRAQ: EVIDENCE FROM EXPOSURE STUDIES IN WESTERN IRAQ WAR VETERANS OF THE 1991 CONFLICT

Tim K Takaro^*

ABSTRACT

Gulf war veterans from western countries have been studied in depth. Prompting much of this effort is the fact that an estimated one-third of U.S. veterans deployed to the Gulf in 1991 have some health related disability due to their deployment. The U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) has issued ten reports on this gulf war and health, many of which contain valuable exposure information. Many other articles have been published in the peer-reviewed literature.

Exposures to benzene and other solvents have been linked to leukemia, bladder and kidney cancer, multiple myeloma. Pesticide exposure has been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia. Other battlefield exposures such as nerve agents and depleted uranium are of interest. This paper will review what might be learned about exposure to the civilian population of South Iraq from this data on western war veterans deployed during the 1991 conflict in this region. Limitations of the largely questionnaire-based exposure data, geographic issues related to exposure and potential applicability to civilian populations will be explored.

^* MD, MPH, MS. Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.