Assessing health outcomes after environmental exposures associated with open pit burning in deployed US service members

Patricia Rohrbeck*, Zheng Hu, Timothy M. Mallon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed the long-term health impact of environmental exposures associated with open pit burning in deployed US service members. Methods: Two hundred individuals deployed to Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanistan, with known exposure to open pits, were matched to 200 non-deployed service members. Both cohorts were observed for adverse health outcomes after returning from deployment. Results: Slight increased risks were observed for respiratory diseases in the Bagram cohort (adj RR: 1.259), and for cardiovascular disease in the Balad cohort (adj RR: 1.072), but the findings were not significant. The combined deployed cohort showed lower risks for adverse health outcomes, suggesting a healthy deployer effect. Conclusions: In conclusion, this study did not find significantly increased risks for selected health outcomes after burn pit exposure during deployment among two deployed cohorts compared with a non-deployed cohort.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)S104-S110
JournalJournal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Volume58
Issue number8S
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Aug 2016
Externally publishedYes

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