Veterans deployed to the Persian Gulf have higher self-reported prevalence of health symptoms compared to PGW veterans who were deployed only as far as Germany. Several Gulf-service environmental exposures are associated with increased health symptom reporting involving predicted body-systems, after adjusting for war-zone stressor exposures and PTSD.

Medical surveillance in workplaces that use beryllium-containing materials can identify individuals with BeS and at-risk groups of workers, which can help prioritize efforts to reduce inhalational and dermal exposures.

A sensitive K-X-ray fluorescence (K-XRF) instrument was used to measure lead levels in the tibia and patella on a series of twelve subjects who had relatively well-documented histories of lead exposure and blood lead levels. For some subjects, K-XRF measurements were taken at multiple points in time, and before and after chelation with EDTA (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid). Results confirm that K-XRF measured bone lead levels correspond to cumulative blood lead indices and not to current blood lead levels. Moreover, the data suggest that bone lead levels; (1) correspond to urinary lead following the EDTA mobilization test unless previous chelation has occurred; (2) rise initially after lead exposure ceases and blood lead levels decrease, probably from redistribution from soft tissue, and then fall; and (3) do not decrease with a 3- to 5-day course of therapeutic EDTA chelation. K-XRF levels in the patella were noted to decrease more rapidly than levels in the tibia after cessation of lead exposure, a finding that probably reflects the greater turnover of lead in trabecular bone than in cortical bone.

Two field studies tested the hypothesis that high perceived control may serve as an antidote to the negative effects of layoffs on the employees who are not laid off (survivors). In Study 1, some participants witnessed the layoffs of fellow employees, but others did not. In Study 2, all participants survived a layoff, but they varied in the extent to which they experienced the post-layoff environment as threatening to their well-being. Conceptually analogous results emerged across the two studies. Study 1 showed that the negative impact of layoffs on survivors' organizational commitment was reduced when perceived control was relatively high. Study 2 showed that the tendency for survivors' job performance to be adversely affected by high threat to their well-being was reduced when perceived control was relatively high. In other words, perceived control was more strongly related to employees' organizational commitment in the presence than in the absence of layoffs and to survivors' job performance when they experienced the post-layoff environment as more threatening. These findings account for additional variance in the reactions of layoff survivors and identify when perceived control will be more versus less strongly related to employees' work attitudes and behaviors. Practical implications for the management of organizational downsizings are discussed.