|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Long-term Health Effects of Participation in Project SHAD
|
|
|
Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense) was a series of tests conducted by the Department of Defense (DoD) in the 1960's to investigate the effectiveness of shipboard detection of and protection procedures against chemical and biological warfare agents. Within each test there were typically several separate trials involving exposure of vessels with various agents. In some cases, all the trials within a particular test used the same agent, but for some tests, different agents were used in different trials. Agents included chemical warfare agents sarin and VX; biological warfare agents Pasteurella tularensis, Coxiella burnetti, and staph enterotoxin (type B); chemical warfare simulants such as zinc cadmium sulfide; and biological warfare simulants such as Bacillus globigii, Serratia marcesens. Although the tests were originally classified, public and media interest has led DoD to investigate these tests and to declassify and make publicly available relevant information from them, in the form of fact sheets for each test (http://deploymentlink.osd.mil/current_issues/shad/shad_intro.shtml).
The proposed research will determine the current health of participants in the Project SHAD tests and compare their health with that of a comparable group of non-participant veterans. To the extent possible, the effects of different agents on the health of participants will be estimated. Data on current health status will come primarily from a telephone survey, but mortality data will also be collected and analyzed. A panel of experts will advise the Medical Follow-up Agency investigators in the conduct of this study. The results of this study are expected to be released in September 2006.
Data collection is currently underway. The Medical Follow-up Agency is mailing health survey questionnaires and SRBI, a survey firm, is conducting telephone interviews.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last Updated: 5/30/2007, 03:31 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|