Gulf War Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents
Before the Gulf War, it was known that Iraq possessed both chemical and biological weapons, but DoD and the British Ministry of Defense have reported that Iraqi forces against coalition forces intentionally used neither chemical nor biological weapons during the Gulf War. The DoD has reported that one U.S. soldier may have received a burn in his arm from mustard agent, caused by accidental exposure while exploring a captured bunker in southern Iraq.
Just after the cease-fire was declared in Iraq, some Gulf War veterans may have been exposed to low or trace levels of chemical warfare agents. In March 1991, after the end of the Gulf War, U.S. service members used explosives to destroy a large ammunition depot at Khamisiyah in southern Iraq. It was later discovered that this site contained the nerve agents sarin and cyclosarin. During the demolition some of these agents were released into the atmosphere. Based upon the research carried out by the CIA, in 1997 DoD notified nearly 100,000 Gulf War veterans who had been in the vicinity of Khamisiyah at the time of the demolition that they could have been exposed to low-levels of these chemical agents.
The DoD has stated that no cases of acute (that is, obvious poisoning effects that occur within minutes after exposure) poisoning symptoms, which would have resulted from high-level exposure to nerve agents, were reported during the Gulf War. Nevertheless, some U.S. service members may have experienced low-level exposures from inhalation of airborne nerve agents in the Gulf War region following the 1991 cease-fire.
How it Enters and Leaves the Body
Chemical warfare agents can be absorbed either by breathing vapors or by skin contact. The primary exposure concern for sarin and cyclosarin is by breathing vapors. Mustard agent is primarily absorbed by skin contact, although breathing it is also an important form of exposure. All of these chemical agents are rapidly broken down in the body and excreted, primarily in urine, following absorption by breathing or skin contact.
Infections of anthrax can occur through breathing and skin and stomach exposure. Naturally occurring anthrax infection is usually through skin contact, and most commonly occurs in farm animals. Exposure for anthrax used in weapons is through breathing aerosolized spores. Breathing in anthrax leads to pulmonary (in the lung) anthrax infection, which in non-military situations is a rare form of the disease compared to the infections of the skin and stomach.
What We Know and Don’t Know about the Health Effects
The OP chemical warfare agents, including sarin, cause symptoms that are virtually identical to those caused by poisoning from OP pesticides. In people who have survived severe poisoning by these compounds, studies have shown subtle but detectable neurological deficits that may last months or even years. These effects have not been described in people who have only had mild or no immediate poisoning symptoms. Research is underway to explore what might happen in people showing either very mild or even no immediate poisoning effects
Exposure to mustard agent can cause severe irritation and tissue damage including typical blistering, to eyes, skin and respiratory and digestive tracts. The symptoms and signs of mustard agent exposure are delayed for some hours following skin contact or breathing the vapors. The mustard agents are also considered to be likely carcinogens and humans exposed to mustard agent are thought to be at some increased risk of respiratory and skin cancers in decades following exposure.
Peter Spencer, Ph.D., Oregon Health Sciences University, suggests that veterans who volunteered in the 1960’s for a U.S. study of the immediate effects of chemical agents and their antidotes be screened for any evidence of delayed health effects. In fact, VA and DoD are currently sponsoring such studies.
Anthrax spores following breathing germinate up to 60 days later. After germination, illness occurs rapidly as replicating bacteria release toxins that can lead to blood loss, swelling, and tissue damage. If left untreated, pulmonary anthrax infection is almost always fatal. There is no long-term health effects reported in individuals surviving pulmonary anthrax infection.
Symptoms caused by botulinum infection include respiratory distress and paralysis, and death can occur by suffocation. Some individuals surviving botulism poisoning from contaminated food or other natural sources experience residual weakness for as long as a year after disease onset.
Possible Effects with Children of Gulf War Veterans
OP nerve agents, including pesticides and chemical warfare agents, are not considered to cause birth defects. Although a developing fetus could be affected if the mother were exposed to these agents, in general, this would not be relevant to Gulf War veterans. Mustard agents are considered to be likely human carcinogens, but current information is not sufficient to conclude that they have human reproductive health effects, especially following exposure to males.
Pulmonary anthrax is nearly always fatal if not treated immediately with antibiotics, but there is no evidence that individuals surviving anthrax infection are at increased risk for adverse reproductive health effects.
Botulinum toxin (in a purified form and in low doses) is actually licensed by the FDA for therapeutic uses as BotoxÒ. Botulinum toxin is not considered to cause birth defects.
Testing to Determine Exposure?
Nerve and blister agents are rapidly broken down in the body and excreted as metabolites indicating exposure can be detected in urine in hours or at most a few days following exposure. But metabolism and excretion of these compounds will be complete within days in cases where the individual survives the initial exposure. There is no available test today that can confirm exposure to these chemical warfare agents that may have occurred several months or years in the past. There is no generally available test to detect exposure to anthrax at levels that did not cause actual clinical manifestations of infection. The body may react to low amounts of botulinum, but there is also no conventional test for exposure that may have occurred months or years in the past.
Source: http://www1.va.gov/gulfwar/docs/Riskfactor6.doc