Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure (2011) / Chapter Skim
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7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Pages 127-134
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From page 127... ...
. Given the extensive review of the long-term health effects literature by these IOM committees, this committee focused it efforts on determining whether Blue Water Navy veterans had the potential for exposure to Agent Orange–associated TCDD and comparable long-term adverse health risks as their ground troop and Brown Water Navy counterparts.
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From page 128... ...
After a review of the available information, the committee decided that it would be necessary to approach its task by evaluating Whether it is possible to demonstrate that Blue Water Navy personnel were or were not exposed to Agent Orange–associated TCDD, and Whether it is possible to state with certainty that exposure of Blue Water Navy personnel to TCDD, taken as a group, was qualitatively different from that of their Brown Water Navy and ground troop counterparts. PRIOR EXPOSURE ASSESSMENTS Since the 1970s, IOM committees and other groups have attempted to determine or reconstruct Vietnam veterans' potential exposure to Agent Orange and TCDD.
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From page 129... ...
for an assessment of potential exposure of ground troops to TCDD, but those reports did not include exposure assessments for Brown Water Navy or Blue Water Navy personnel. Lack of information on the Brown Water Navy or Blue Water Navy activities, on the use of Agent Orange, and on environmental monitoring contributed to the uncertainties surrounding their potential exposure to TCDD.
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From page 130... ...
The committee greatly appreciated each veteran's input but notes the difficulty in interpreting and using this type of information in assessing population exposure. The committee notes that Blue Water Navy personnel were also exposed to numerous chemicals during active duty that are known to exert chronic adverse health effects.
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From page 131... ...
Therefore, the committee was unable to determine, using this approach, whether Blue Water Navy personnel had a greater or smaller potential for exposure to TCDD and for developing adverse health effects. Studies of Royal Australian Navy Vietnam veterans were inconsistent with US studies that associated TCDD exposure with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
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From page 132... ...
It is possible that some fraction of Blue Water Navy personnel were not exposed to Agent Orange– associated TCDD, either directly or indirectly, but the proportion of personnel for whom that would have been the case is not known nor is it estimable with available information; there are similar uncertainties in estimating exposure of ground troops and Brown Water Navy sailors and the proportion of those personnel who might have been exposed. Some Blue Water Navy personnel may have spent their entire tour of duty on aircraft carriers that never came close to the Vietnamese coast, and others served on ships (for example, destroyers)
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From page 133... ...
After examining a wealth of information on possible routes of exposure, the committee concluded that it would not be possible to determine Agent Orange–associated TCDD concentrations in the Vietnamese environment. This lack of information makes it impossible to quantify exposures for Blue Water and Brown Water Navy sailors and, so far, for ground troops as well.
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From page 134... ...
2009b. Assessing exposure to allied ground troops in the Vietnam war: A quantitative evaluation of the Stellman Exposure Opportunity Index model.
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