Mortality and morbidity among army chemical corps Vietnam Veterans: A preliminary report

Abstract

Nearly 1,000 men serving in Army Chemical Corps units in Vietnam between 1965 and 1971 were responsible for the mixing and application of herbicides, riot control substances, and burning agents. Information on Vietnam service was obtained from military records of 94% of this cohort. Follow-up for vital status on December 31, 1987, was conducted using Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), military, National Death Index, U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and Social Security Administration records. Cause-specific observed numbers of deaths among the 894 men included in the study group were compared with the numbers expected based on rates for U.S. men, adjusting for race, age, and calendar period. Fifty-three deaths from all causes were observed during the study period, compared to 48.8 expected (SMR = 1.09). There were statistically significant excesses of digestive disease deaths (SMR = 2.98), primarily due to cirrhosis, and from motor vehicle accidents (SMR = 2.00). Two deaths were observed from leukemia (0.5 expected) and two from brain cancer (0.4 expected). A total of 257 of the study subjects had received VA inpatient care or Agent Orange registry medical examinations during the study period. Two of these subjects had confirmed diagnoses of Hodgkin's disease (expected = 0.7) and one of hairy cell leukemia. Because of the small study group size and the lack of specificity of information regarding their exposures, these results cannot be attributed to any single chemical agent.

Mortality among Army Chemical Corps Vietnam veterans

“…In the original VA Chemical Corps Study [Thomas and Kang, 1990], study participants were identified from morning reports for all Army Chemical Corps detachments assigned to Vietnam between 1966 and 1971. All persons from those morning reports were included, regardless of occupational specialty.…”

“…An excess mortality from diseases of the digestive system was observed but not believed to be associated with Agent Orange exposure. In 1990, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) conducted a mortality and morbidity follow-up of 894 persons who served in Army Chemical Corps units in Vietnam between 1966and 1971[Thomas and Kang, 1990. Compared to the U.S. male population, statistically significant excesses of digestive disease deaths and motor vehicle accidents were observed for the Army Chemical Corps personnel.…”

Persistent Organochlorine Chemicals in Plasma and Risk of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

“…The most potent dioxin congener, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), has been declared a human carcinogen by the IARC for all cancer sites based on sufficient evidence in animals, a convincing mechanistic model, and limited evidence in humans (10). For non-Hodgkin's lymphoma specifically, there is compelling evidence of increased risk resulting from exceptionally high exposures in occupational settings (11)(12)(13) and following an accidental industrial release in Seveso, Italy (14); there have been few studies of the effects of dioxins within the general population. Furans and coplanar PCBs exhibit similar toxicologic properties as dioxin through their potential to bind to the arylhydrocarbon receptor, whereas other (noncoplanar or standard) PCBs elicit biological responses that are primarily mediated through other pathways (15).…”

Agent Orange and Cancer: An Overview for Clinicians

“…Both the CDC and the VA studies looked broadly at Vietnam service, without a special focus on Agent Orange exposure (although some VA studies focused on Chemical Corps veterans 21,22 ). In contrast, a third study, the Air Force Health Study, focused specifically on approximately 1200 Ranch Hand veterans directly involved in herbicide distribution and 1300 comparison veterans.…”