ADVERSE  HEALTH  EFFECTS

for the Vietnam Veteran

TABLE 1-1 Summary of Findings in Occupational, Environmental, and Veterans Studies Regarding the Association Between Specific Health Problems and Exposure to Herbicides

Sufficient Evidence of an Association

Evidence is sufficient to conclude that there is a positive association. That is, a positive association has been observed between herbicides and the outcome in studies in which chance, bias, and confounding could be ruled out with reasonable confidence. For example, if several small studies that are free from bias and confounding show an association that is consistent in magnitude and direction, there may be sufficient evidence for an association. There is sufficient evidence of an association between exposure to herbicides and the following health outcomes:

Soft tissue sarcoma  *

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Hodgkin's disease

Chloracne (this is from dioxin)

Porphyria cutanea tarda (in genetically susceptible individuals) from ?

 

Evidence is suggestive of an association between herbicides and the outcome but is limited because chance, bias, and confounding could not be ruled out with confidence. For example, at least one high-quality study shows a positive association, but the results of other studies are inconsistent. There is limited/suggestive evidence of an association between exposure to herbicides and the following health outcomes:

Respiratory cancers (lung, larynx, trachea)

Prostate cancer

Multiple myeloma

The committee examined more than 230 epidemiological studies in detail on a range of health problems and their possible association with herbicides. It found sufficient evidence of a statistical association between exposure to herbicides or dioxin and soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and Hodgkin's disease. The committee also found sufficient evidence of an association between herbicides or dioxin and chloracne and PCT. 

• Chloracne is a specific acne-like skin disorder; 
• PCT is a liver disorder characterized by thinning and blistering of the skin  * ? from what?

The available studies are of insufficient quality, consistency, or statistical power to permit a conclusion regarding the presence or absence of an association. For example, studies fail to control for confounding, have inadequate exposure assessment, or fail to address latency. There is inadequate or insufficient evidence to determine whether an association exists between exposure to herbicides and the following health outcomes:

Hepatobiliary cancers

Nasal/nasopharyngeal cancer

Bone cancer

Female reproductive cancers (breast, cervical, uterine, ovarian)

Renal cancer

Testicular cancer

Leukemia

Spontaneous abortion

Birth defects

Neonatal/infant death and stillbirths

Low birthweight

Childhood cancer in offspring

Abnormal sperm parameters and infertility  

Inadequate/Insufficient Evidence to Determine Whether an Association Exists

Cognitive and neuropsychiatric disorders

Motor/coordination dysfunction

Peripheral nervous system disorders

Metabolic and digestive disorders (diabetes, changes in liver enzymes, lipid abnormalities, ulcers)

Immune system disorders (immune modulation and autoimmunity)

Circulatory disorders

Respiratory disorders

Limited/Suggestive Evidence of No Association

Several adequate studies, covering the full range of levels of exposure that human beings are known to encounter, are mutually consistent in not showing a positive association between exposure to herbicides and the outcome at any level of exposure. A conclusion of 'no association' is inevitably limited to the conditions, level of exposure, and length of observation covered by the available studies. In addition, the possibility of a very small elevation in risk at the levels of exposure studied can never be excluded. There is limited/suggestive evidence of no association between exposure to herbicides and the following health outcomes:

Skin cancer

Gastrointestinal tumors (stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer)

Bladder cancer

Brain tumors  not that rare

NOTE: 'Herbicides' refers to the major herbicides used in Vietnam: 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid); 2,4,5-T (2,4,5-tricbIorophenoxyacetic acid) and its contaminant TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin); cacodylic acid; and picloram. The evidence regarding association is drawn from occupational and other studies in which subjects were exposed to a variety of herbicides and herbicide components.

Source:  http://www.landscaper.net/agent.htm page bottom

Summary

If Dioxin was the 'fall guy' for the Vietnam vets' harm, 

and DU, vaccinations and Saran Gas were the 'fall guy' for the first Gulf War, (04 looking for a neurotoxin)

What's the 'fall guy' for today's harm going to be?    

*  *  *  *  *

If we look more 

at what 2-butoxyethanol would do, 

is it still a 'match?' *

3-6-05