How burn pits may have raised veterans' risk of rare cancers and respiratory illnesses

[Jilly_in_VA]

A bipartisan measure to expand medical coverage for millions of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans exposed to toxic burn pits stalled on Thursday, after 25 Republican senators who supported the bill last month reversed their stance.

The move prevented the legislation from reaching President Biden's desk. The bill has already passed in the House, and a previous version passed in the Senate last month, before a few changes were made. Proponents of the measure were surprised that the current version did not sail through again.

At issue is the way military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan disposed of waste from around 2010 to 2015: by dumping it in a pit and setting it on fire in the open air.

Many veterans attribute health problems that arose later, such as cancer and respiratory illness, to exposure to chemicals released into the air via these fires. The smoke carried a range of harmful substances, including lead, mercury, benzene, hydrocarbons, dioxins and volatile organic compounds.

"Those who were deployed at bases where burn pits were used clearly had exposure to agents that are known to be harmful," said David Savitz, an epidemiology professor at the Brown University School of Public Health.

The legislation would have expanded health care access to more than 3.5 million veterans who were exposed to toxins while serving in the military after Sept. 11, 2001. It also would have added 23 illnesses, including several cancers, to the list of conditions eligible for federal health care coverage.

The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 — or PACT Act, as it’s known — was named after a U.S. veteran who attributed his lung cancer to burn pit exposure. Robinson died of his illness in 2020.

Savitz and other experts said burning waste the way the military did could certainly raise the risk of disease, but more research is needed to know if the conditions veterans are reporting were directly caused by burn pits. Regardless, they think veterans should be able to get the care they seek.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/burn-pits-veterans-healthcare-risks-cancers-respiratory-illness-rcna40669

If we "wait for all the research" we'll be waiting till doomsday. Fuck the RepubliKKKans.

[Sympthsical]

1. Chubby Emu video about it

Kate unfortunately died just this past April.

[moniss]

2. The government still

hasn't fully owned up to the Vietnam vets about Agent Orange. They mostly seem to be waiting for them to die off in order to decrease the liability. I would have included decrease the shame but the government/military seem to have none. I say that based on the appalling filthy conditions found at Walter Reed a few years back. I remember a general testifying to Congress that when he toured the place the floors were filthy with waste and garbage. He of course deflected blame and said they were short-staffed and so didn't have time for some things. I wanted so much for an elected member of Congress to stand up and scream at him "Pick up a mop you son of a bitch!!!!" I am tilting at windmills still.

[harumph]

4. Maybe the elected member of congress is actually the dumb son of a bitch

- not the general. Facts are, the military is not staffed up like it should and they are now offering incentives for people
to join. It's not uncommon for officers to do 10 - 12 hours days. The military budget is mostly spent on new toys -
not personnel.

[moniss]

5. You need to do some

research about this incident.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. We need to rub the Repubes noses in it.

[Jilly_in_VA]

6. It's not just respiratory illnesses

There are a lot of neurotoxins in the smoke snd residue from burn pits just as there were from Agent Orange. I suspect that may have been partially what was wrong with my son. I though it was TBI from an undiagnosed brain injury (concussion bombs going off near him could have done that) but the more I learn about the burn pits the more I wonder about that. He was a mechanic and not supposed to be near fighting (ha!), but he could have been near burn pits every single day.

[Hekate]

7. DU knew. We were following an independent journalist by 2002 or therabouts, & soldiers damn well

…knew