Health Effects of the 1991 Kuwait Oil Fires: A Survey of US Army Troops

• Published in: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine Vol. 41; no. 6; pp. 433 - 439
• Main Authors: Petruccelli, Bruno P., Goldenbaum, Mary, Scott, Brian, Lachiver, Richard, Kanjarpane, Devesh, Elliott, Elizabeth, Francis, Marcie, McDiarmid, Melissa A., Deeter, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01-06-1999; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
• Subjects: Adult; Air Pollution - adverse effects; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases; Environmental Exposure; Female; Fires; Gas, fumes; Health Surveys; Humans; Kuwait; Male; Medical sciences; Military Medicine; Military personnel; Occupational health; Oil; ORIGINAL ARTICLES; Respiratory Tract Diseases - etiology; Toxicology; Warfare; Kuwait; Asia; Human; American; Toxicity; War; Occupational exposure; Oil well; Symptomatology; Fire; Air pollution; Veteran; Fumes; Occupational medicine; Military
• ISSN: 1076-2752; 1536-5948
• DOI: 10.1097/00043764-199906000-00008

The burning of oil wells in Kuwait in 1991 discharged a high volume of potentially toxic pollutants into the air. To determine whether there were health-related complaints associated with having lived and worked there, questionnaires were administered to 1599 soldiers after their return from a 3-month mission in Kuwait. Symptoms occurring before, during, and after the mission were queried. Compared with baseline, symptoms reported more frequently for the Kuwait period were eye and upper respiratory tract irritation, shortness of breath, cough, rashes, and fatigue. Symptoms were associated with reported proximity to oil fires, and their incidence generally decreased after the soldiers left Kuwait. Oil-fire smoke is one of several possible factors that may have contributed to the reporting of symptoms.