Military Burn Pits in Middle East Theater

There are open air burn pits the military uses in Afghanistan and Iraq. It turns out, according to an article in the Air Force Times, that these are hugely hazardous. The Dept of Defense as little as seven months ago was saying it was not a health problem. Now a report by the Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine shows a lot of people are getting sick. The report: “Long-term exposure, on the scale of months to years, may influence the incidence of chronic disease and susceptibility; and short-term exposure, on the scale of days, may precipitate acute health events. Health effects of particulate matter on both scales may range in severity from subclinical to deadly.”

“The health effects of chronic exposure to particulate matter include increases in lower respiratory symptoms, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reductions in lung function, and … in life expectancy [primarily due to cardiorespiratory mortality].”

Since the beginning of our current entry into the Middle East, thousands of military personnel have taken ill with respiratory diseases and related illnesses. These countries still burn leaded gasoline, and computers are melted down to get recyclable materials. In Kuwait, petrochemical pollution is massive. We don't need to be adding to all this.

Disabled American Veterans have had over 400 military personnel report cancer and respiratory problems. DoD needs to fix this. They have a history of turning a blind eye to health problems in the field. This is being addressed by Congress. Thirty-two members of the House have sponsored an amendment to the 2010 defense bill for control and restriction of the burn pits. The DoD should be addressing this already.

There's a Burn Pit Action Center where servicemen post their own stories about the effects of burn pits.