Military personnel exposure

Organophosphate Ester Hydraulic Fluids. Organophosphate ester hydraulic fluids are used in applications that require a degree of fire resistance such as in aircraft. EPA (1992b) has noted that aircraft mechanics may have dermal exposures of 1,300-3,900 mg/day and that 2,200 aircraft workers are routinely exposed to tributyl phosphate, while another 43,000 mechanics may be exposed at various times. Estimates of worker exposure in other industries were not found in the available literature. General population and military personnel exposure to organophosphate ester hydraulic fluids is likely to be much lower than exposure to mineral oil hydraulic fluids because these fluids have more specialized uses. 

United States Army Headquarters. Chemical Exposure Guidelines for Deployed Military Personnel, USACHPPM Technical Guide 230. Washington, DC Government Printing Office, January 2002. 

Chemical Exposure Guidelines for Deployed Military Personnel, A Companion Document to... 

Certain individuals are especially likely to experience, or to have already experienced, a traumatic event. Trauma exposure is more likely among military personnel or those working in emergency services, for example, police officers, firefighters, or emergency medical technicians. In addition, those who have recently emigrated from war zones or regions of civil unrest are likely to have been exposed to a traumatic event. 

Several sources of address information were used, including the VA compensation and pension files, records at the St. Louis Military Personnel Records Center, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (which can obtain current address information from the Internal Revenue Service on persons with occupational exposure to possible health risks), and a commercial tracing agency. Addresses of 5,620 volunteers, or 88% of those not known to be dead, were obtained. Of these addresses, 624 (11%) were reported by the U.S. 

Human exposure to JP-8 occurs during refueling and defueling operations and during mechanical activities that deal with storage, transfer, and combustion. Military personnel can be exposed to JP-8 by the inhalation (of aerosolized or vaporized fuel), dermal, and oral routes of exposure. 

US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) (2004). Chemical exposure guidelines for deployed military personnel. USACHPPM Technical Guide 230 (v. 1.3, with January 2004 addendum). US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. 

Incendiary and explosive devices are used in most terrorist attacks. As a result of combustion of fuel and hazardous materials, PAHs are released in high volumes. Exposure of civilians or deployed personnel to fumes containing PAHs constitutes an acute exposure scenario. Additionally, defense forces involved in extinguishing oil well fires, and cleanup tasks are exposed to low levels of PAHs over a more protracted time period. In addition, over 1.3 million civilian and military personnel are occupationally exposed to hydrocarbon fuels, particularly gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, or kerosene on a near daily basis. Studies have reported acute or persisting neurotoxic effects from acute, subchronic, or chronic exposure of humans or animals to hydrocarbon fuels (Ritchie et n/., 2001), specifically burning of jet fuels, which release PAHs in considerable proportions. 

In the case of chemical warfare military personnel who are exposed need a fast diagnosis to ascertain the level of exposure and the identity of the agent, in order to give victims adequate treatment. 

Sharp, R. and Chapman, W.H., Exposure of Marshall Islanders and american military personnel to fallout. Rep. WT-938, Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, DC (1957). 

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