A Review of the Scientific Literature as it Pertains to Gulf War Illnesses

Volume 8: Pesticides

by Gary Cecchine, Beatrice A. Golomb, Lee H. Hilborne, Dalia M. Spektor, C. Ross Anthony

Download

Full Document

FormatFile SizeNotes
zip file 0.8 MB

The file(s) provided above are ZIP-formatted archives, which most modern systems can natively unpack. If your computer does not unpack the archive when you double-click it, you may need to use a separate decompression program such as UnZip.

Purchase

Purchase Print Copy

 FormatList Price Price
Add to Cart Paperback216 pages $15.00 $12.00 20% Web Discount

This report summarizes the scientific literature on 12 of the 35 pesticides that are likely to have been used during the Persian Gulf War. Where possible, it focuses on known pesticide exposures or doses and related health outcomes that may be relevant to symptoms reported by some Gulf War veterans. Particular attention is paid to long-term, chronic effects of reported exposures to organophosphate and carbamate pesticides. Evidence from epidemiological studies, studies of genetic and biological differences between ill and healthy subjects, and studies of the physiological mechanisms of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides is suggestive, but not conclusive, that these pesticides could be among the potential contributing agents to some of the undiagnosed illnesses seen in Gulf War veterans. However, no prospective studies have been conducted that positively identify pesticides as causative agents. More research is needed to confirm or refute a causal link between pesticides and other agents and the symptoms associated with Gulf War illnesses.

Table of Contents

  • Preface

  • Figures

  • Tables

  • Summary

  • Acknowledgments

  • Acronyms and Abbreviations

  • Chapter One

    Introduction

  • Chapter Two

    Pesticides

  • Chapter Three

    Health Problems in PGWV

  • Chapter Four

    Lindane

  • Chapter Five

    DEET

  • Chapter Six

    Pyrethroids

  • Chapter Seven

    Organophosphates and Carbamates

  • Chapter Eight

    Confounding Factors: Individual Differences and Interactions

  • Chapter Nine

    Concluding Remarks

  • Appendix

    Comparison by Symptom Category of Subjects with AChE-Inhibitor Exposure (Organophosphate or Carbamate) and Ill PGWV

  • Bibliography

Research conducted by

This research was sponsored by the RAND National Security Research Division and RAND Health.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Monograph report series. The monograph/report was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1993 to 2003. RAND monograph/reports presented major research findings that addressed the challenges facing the public and private sectors. They included executive summaries, technical documentation, and synthesis pieces.

Our mission to help improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis is enabled through our core values of quality and objectivity and our unwavering commitment to the highest level of integrity and ethical behavior. To help ensure our research and analysis are rigorous, objective, and nonpartisan, we subject our research publications to a robust and exacting quality-assurance process; avoid both the appearance and reality of financial and other conflicts of interest through staff training, project screening, and a policy of mandatory disclosure; and pursue transparency in our research engagements through our commitment to the open publication of our research findings and recommendations, disclosure of the source of funding of published research, and policies to ensure intellectual independence. For more information, visit www.rand.org/about/principles.

Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.