TROOPS NOT EXPOSED TO DANGEROUS LEVELS OF CHEMICAL AGENT

[DOD]

NEWS RELEASE

No. 399-97
(703)695-3912(media)
_IMMEDIATE RELEASE_ July 24, 1997 (703)697-5737(public/industry)

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TROOPS NOT EXPOSED TO DANGEROUS LEVELS OF CHEMICAL AGENT

Defense Department and CIA officials reported today the results of a
year long effort to learn the extent to which U.S. troops may have
been exposed to harmful agents when Iraqi chemical weapons were
destroyed at Khamisiyah on March 10, 1991. Their analysis confirmed
that no U.S. units were close enough to the demolitions to experience
any noticeable health effects at the time of the event.

Based on new data, computer models and interviews with troops involved
in the demolitions, officials now believe 98,910 service members were
in an area generally south of Khamisiyah and were possibly exposed to
a very low level of nerve agent vaporized during the weapons
destruction. Little is known about delayed effects from a brief,
low-level exposure to nerve agents such as might have occurred in this
case, however, current medical evidence indicates that long term
health problems are unlikely. The Presidential Advisory Committee on
Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, in its Dec. 31, 1996 Final Report,
wrote, "Current scientific evidence suggests that subclinical exposure
to OP (organophosphate) CW (chemical warfare) nerve agents does not
result in long-term neurophysiological and neuropsychological health
effects." There is, however, limited medical information on the impact
of such low level, short duration exposures. Therefore, the
Departments of Defense and Veterans' Affairs recognized the need for
further research in this area.

Officials calculate the dose of agent was greater than the general
population level of 0.01296 milligram-minutes of sarin per cubic
meter, but well below the noticeable health effects level of 1
milligram-minute per cubic meter. The general population level,
established by the Centers for Disease Control in 1988, is a level
which "long term exposure to these concentrations would not create any
adverse health effects." It takes an exposure of 35 milligram-minutes
of sarin per cubic meter to incapacitate an individual and 100
milligram-minutes per cubic meter to produce fatalities.

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Although there is no medical evidence suggesting a clear connection
between low level exposure and health problems, the DoD is notifying
people who were possibly exposed. A letter to these people encourages
those with health concerns related to their service in the Gulf War to
enroll in the DoD Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program by calling
1-800-796-9699 or the Department of Veterans' Affairs Persian Gulf
Registry, 1-800-749-8387.

Since its announcement about Khamisiyah on June 21, 1996, the Pentagon
has been working with the CIA to determine how widely and in what
concentration chemical agents may have dispersed when U.S. troops
unknowingly destroyed large quantities of Iraqi chemical munitions at
the sprawling ammunition storage site in southern Iraq shortly after
the Gulf War ended. Experts hypothesized that a cloud of vaporized
nerve agent, formed when the weapons were destroyed, would have been
carried by the prevailing winds over a large area. Determining this
area and identifying the troops who were in it has come to be known as
the Khamisiyah plume analysis.

As part of the effort over the past year, the Department of Defense
and Central Intelligence Agency have interviewed soldiers who
conducted the demolitions, conducted field tests to simulate the
explosions, developed improved data on the day-to-day location of
units, and combined a variety of computer models to better understand
this event. These efforts reduced the uncertainties and better
identified key data to be fed into the combined computer models. For
instance, officials now believe:

* There were 1,250 unmarked chemical rockets in the open "pit" on
March 10, 1991. About 500 of these were affected by the
demolition.
* Only 18 per cent of the nerve agent was released into the
atmosphere.
* Nerve agent released was composed of one percent that vaporized,
one percent that was released as liquid droplets, six percent that
evaporated from soil and ten percent that evaporated from wood.

"We're very confident of the accuracy of the analysis released today,
because of the rigor of the scientific research we've applied to
better understanding this event," said Dr. Bernard Rostker, the DoD
special assistant for Gulf War illnesses. "Based on recommendations by
the independent panel of experts from the Institute for Defense
Analyses, the Pentagon and CIA have applied multiple models to
determine the likely path of the agent which was vaporized in the
explosion."

While no deaths or noticeable health effects were reported at the time
of the demolitions, the effort to determine exposure levels is
important to the ongoing investigation looking for potential causes of
Gulf War illnesses. Because scientific evidence on brief, low level
exposure is limited, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs
are committed to gaining a better understanding of the potential
health effects and are funding several projects to learn more about
them.

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Efforts to find the causes of Gulf War illnesses were stepped up
considerably after President Clinton announced a coordinated approach
involving the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Health and
Human Services on March 6, 1995.

Shortly after the President's announcement, the Central Intelligence
Agency conducted a comprehensive review of intelligence on the issues
related to the Gulf War. By late 1995, information resurfaced which
mentioned the presence of chemical munitions at Khamisiyah discovered
by a United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) which had visited the
site in October 1991. UNSCOM reinspected Khamisiyah in May 1996 and on
June 21, 1996, DoD publicly announced UNSCOM's findings.

In an effort to better understand the possible effects on troops in
the area of Khamisiyah, the CIA began efforts in 1996 to model the
demolitions. The task proved extremely complex, due to computer model
limitations and scant source data (agent purity, wind direction,
etc.). In October 1996, former Deputy Secretary of Defense John White
ordered an effort to reach out to and seek the help of about 20,000
Gulf War veterans who were within 31 miles (50 kilometers) of the
Khamisiyah site from March 4 through March 15, 1991. This was not an
exposure estimate. It was expected that anyone who was within 25
kilometers of the detonation would have experienced some symptoms from
a chemical agent release. Because of the absence of reliable
meteorological data at the time, and because of a desire to be
conservative, this area was doubled for the circle with a 50-kilometer
radius that was drawn from the site.

Later that October, White appointed Dr. Rostker as the Special
Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses and took a number of other steps to
strengthen clinical and research programs, review intelligence data
and subject current projects to review by expert panels of outside
experts.

Since Dr. Rostker's appointment, DoD has expanded the number of people
involved in the search for information about Gulf War illnesses to
more than 150. Rostker's staff is investigating and publishing reports
on incidents to determine whether they may shed light on the
unexplained illnesses. Dr. Rostker has also opened a dialogue with
thousands of Gulf War veterans in meetings across the country,
telephone interviews and interactive computer links.

Rostker stressed investigations on Khamisiyah and other Gulf War
activities will not end with today's announcement. "We have several
investigations ongoing and welcome any information people have which
will contribute to our efforts," he said. "Much of what we know about
incidents like Khamisiyah is directly related to information we've
received from Gulf veterans." He urged Gulf War veterans with
information to contact DoD at 1-800-472-6719 or at DSN 878-3261.

Rostker concluded, "The health of Gulf War veterans is extremely
important to us. The DoD and VA are committed to providing the best
possible medical care to all veterans and equally committed to gaining
a full understanding of all the possible health effects of service
during the war. As We learn more about the events during the Gulf War,
we will continue to keep veterans informed."

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