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For several years, VVA has been pressing to learn what
biological agents and simulants and chemical decontaminants
veterans who participated in Project SHAD had been exposed
to, and if their health might have been compromised by any
exposure.
We ran up against one roadblock after another. The
Department of Defense, after initially denying any knowledge
of SHAD or its mother project, 112, acknowledged that some
tests had been conducted. Eventually, they owned up that
well over one hundred tests had been planned, although only
fifty were conducted.
DoD claimed, too, that they did not have individual exposure
rates, even though this information could be extrapolated
from data that were collected on the light tugs that saw
extensive testing.
Under unrelenting pressure from VVA, which
enlisted the support of other VSOs, the Department of Veterans
Affairs contracted with the Institute of Medicine to do a
study of the possible health effects of exposure during the
SHAD tests.
The three-year
study was released, finally, at the end of May, after four-and-a-half
years. What follows is a news release from the IOM, which
basically sums up the findings. Following the release are
some of VVA’s basic concerns
about the study.
Why is this important? Because although this involves “only” several
thousand veterans from 40 years ago, our government is again
testing biological and chemical simulants and agents—and
not simply for defensive purposes. As the philosopher George
Santayana wrote in 1905: “Those who cannot remember
the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Study Finds No
Clear Evidence of Long-Term Health Effects Among Veterans
Involved in 1960s Project SHAD
WASHINGTON—An Institute of Medicine
study finds no clear evidence specific long-term health effects
are associated with participation in a series of tests during
the 1960s known as the Shipboard Hazard and Defense Project
(SHAD). The IOM study compared the health of veterans who
participated in SHAD with the health of a similar group of
veterans who did not take part. A greater number of SHAD
veterans have died of heart disease, but overall mortality
rates among both groups of veterans were similar. Moreover,
the differences in the rates of medical symptoms and conditions
experienced by each group were slight for the most part,
and the study authors found no consistent, specific patterns
of ill health among SHAD veterans.
Because of limitations in the study response
rates and the size of the study, the authors cautioned that
their findings should not be misconstrued as clear evidence
that there are no possible long-term health effects related
to SHAD involvement. Also, there have been very few hypotheses
about specific health problems that could be related to the
materials used in the SHAD tests to serve as a starting point
for further investigation.
Project SHAD was a series of tests
conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense during the 1960s
to determine how well service members aboard military ships
could detect and respond to chemical and biological attacks.
Many of the agents used in the tests were presumably innocuous
simulants such as Bacillus globigii and zinc cadmium sulfide,
but some tests involved active agents such as the toxic nerve
gases sarin and VX, and infectious bacteria. Although many
of the roughly 5,500 veterans who took part were aware of
the tests, some were involved without their knowledge.
The IOM study compared mortality rates and causes among
deceased SHAD participants and control group veterans by
reviewing death certificates and other records. To compare
health status among living veterans, the study authors relied
on data provided by the former service members in an extensive
questionnaire. About 61 percent of SHAD participants and
47 percent of the control group veterans responded.
Overall
death rates among SHAD participants were comparable to those
among control group veterans. However, SHAD participants
had a somewhat higher rate of mortality from heart disease.
The study cannot speak to whether exposure to the agents
used in SHAD tests is linked to increased risk for heart
disease because data on veterans’ exposure levels are limited. Also, the study authors did not
have information on other possible risk factors, such as whether the deceased
veterans were overweight, how much they exercised, or whether they had a family
history of cardiovascular ailments.
Cancer deaths were higher among a subset of
SHAD veterans who were potentially exposed only to trioctyl
phosphate—a
nontoxic simulant for VX used during the tests. Again, a lack of exposure data
and information on other risk factors prevented the authors from being able to
intepret this finding. In response to the survey sent by the study authors, living
SHAD veterans as a group reported experiencing medical symptoms and poorer health
at higher rates than the control veterans did. However, most of the differences
in health status scores calculated from the responses of the two groups were
relatively small. Veterans who were potentially exposed to trioctyl phosphate
only or to multiple simulants did report moderately higher rates of psychological,
psychosocial, and behavioral problems.
The
subset of SHAD participants who were potentially exposed
to active agents such as sarin and Q-fever reported medical
symptoms and conditions at rates no greater than the control
veterans. There were no notable differences in rates of hospitalization
reported by either group of veterans.
The study authors noted
some interesting findings that extended beyond their comparison
of the SHAD participants and control group veterans. Among
the subset of SHAD veterans potentially exposed only to trioctyl
phosphate, former Marines had higher mortality rates than
their former Navy counterparts, a finding the authors believe
might warrant further investigation. Both groups of veterans
reported poorer health than national norms, but their self-reported
health status was better than that of a sample group of Veterans
Health Administration outpatients.
The
study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The study was conducted and written by staff members of the
Institute of Medicine’s
Medical Follow-Up Agency and overseen by an advisory panel of national experts.
Established
in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences,
the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective,
evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals,
the private sector, and the public. The National Academy
of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of
Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National
Academies. A roster of the authors and advisory panel follows.
Pre-publication copies of Long-Term Health
Effects of Participation in Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard
and Defense) are available from the National Academies Press,
202-334-3313 or 800-624-6242, or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu.
***
Perhaps no one involved in the SHAD tests was exposed more
than were the sailors aboard the light tugs who participated
in most of the tests. However, because the authors of the
study could not identify an adequate control group, the
health of these sailors was not taken into account. We
believe this is a major flaw of the study.
Once our folks
with a scientific background have fully analyzed the IOM
study, VVA will be sending a letter to the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs requesting a targeted, follow-up study,
one that will focus on those sailors assigned to Project
SHAD and assigned to crew the light tugs.
We also are curious
about the health status of those thousands of veterans who
participated in the experiments at Edgewood Arsenal and at
Fort Detrick
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2010, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8719 Colesville Road, Suite 100, Silver Spring, MD 20910