Remember it wasn't just US troops stationed in Iraq and...

Remember it wasn't just US troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan as well. There were other countries with a significant troop presence as well. But Dr Robert Miller from Vanderbilt is certainly a Heavy Duty Voice on the subject.


The U.S. military constructed burn pits near bases across the Middle East to dispose of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. A wide range of materials, including uniforms, chemicals, tyres, and even medical, animal and human waste, were burned in pits using jet fuel as an accelerant. It is estimated that 3.5 million Veterans have been exposed to harmful toxins whilst deployed on operations since 2001. After exposure to these burn pit environments, many previously combat-ready troops returned from deployment with a range of disabling respiratory symptoms, including shortness of breath and cough, that prevent them from performing basic physical activities. For the past 17 years, Dr Robert Miller, Professor of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care at Vanderbilt, has gathered evidence, testified before Congress and medical panels, and worked with the military to explore concerns that soldiers exposed to airborne toxins were left with potentially permanent lung damage. In a 2011 report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr Miller and his team describe examining a group of soldiers who recently returned from deployment complaining of shortness of breath. Conventional respiratory tests, including lung imaging and PFTs, were nearly all normal. However, surgical lung biopsies on all but a few soldiers led to a diagnosis of CB, a narrowing of the smallest and deepest airways of the lungs.