Bad air, not burn pits, may hurt military

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Poor air quality in Iraq and Afghanistan may be a bigger threat to service members' health than exposure to toxic smoke from burn pits, researchers say.

A report by the Institute of Medicine, conducted at the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, found particulate matter at the Joint Base Balad burn pit at the height of the Iraq War that could cause long-term respiratory illnesses, Stars and Stripes reported.

However, the report also said the particulates likely came from background sources -- "windblown dust combined with carbon and heavy metals from transportation and industrial activities" not the burn pit's toxic smoke. With this factored in, the study found no additional threat from the plastic, metal and other waste burned in the burn pit fires.

Nonetheless, the study authors pointed out the findings aren't meant to prove that working and living around burn pits was safe. The researchers said the air-quality monitoring data supplied by the Department of Defense was limited in usefulness and only gave a partial picture of what chemicals troops may have been inhaled.

A follow-up study of the health records of troops stationed at Balad -- before and after the burn pit -- should be conducted to better determine the long-term health risks might be to those exposed, the researchers recommended.