September 17, 2020
Environmental health professor emeritus Sverre Vedal serves on committee studying respiratory effects of Southwest Asia military service
Dr. Sverre Vedal, University of Washington professor emeritus of environmental and occupational health sciences, served on an expert committee for the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) studying the long-term respiratory health impacts of military service in Southwest Asia. Vedal is a pulmonary physician.
Sverre Vedal
The 11-member committee this month issued a report evaluating how current studies shed light on how airborne exposures experienced in the Persian Gulf region and Afghanistan might affect the health of service members and veterans. Committee members shared their research and findings in briefings on Sept. 10 and 11, including a webinar.
Among other findings, the report identified gaps in research that could be pursued, emerging technologies that could be used and organizations that the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs might partner with for such work.
More than 3.7 million United States service members have participated in military operations taking place in Southwest Asia since 1990. Such operations have exposed service members to airborne hazards including oil well fire smoke, emissions from open burn pits and dust and sand suspended in the air, as well as exhaust from diesel vehicles. The exposures were combined with other stressors like excessive heat and noise that are part of service in a combat environment.
The committee’s recommendations on the research gaps included the VA establishing an expert panel to advise on respiratory illness in veterans and its possible relationship to military service. It also suggested that an updated analysis of mortality in Southwest Asia theater veterans be conducted.
The committee’s full name is the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Committee on the Respiratory Health Effects of Airborne Hazards Exposure in the Southwest Asia Theater of Military Operations.
Vedal will represent the NASEM committee in testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on Veteran’s Affairs Subcommittee on Disability and Memorial Affairs on Sept. 23.
For more information, contact Vedal at svedal@uw.edu.
Tag(s): Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • School of Public Health • Sverre Vedal
