Gross Hematuria and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Associated With Military Burn Pits Exposures in US Veterans Deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan

Mosammat M Perveen; Henry E Mayo-Malasky; Mary F Lee-Wong; Julie M Tomaska; Edward Forsyth; Amy Gravely; Mark A Klein; Janeen H Trembley; Tammy A Butterick; Robert A Promisloff; Pamela K Ginex; Paul Barach; Anthony M Szema

doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000002919

Gross Hematuria and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Associated With Military Burn Pits Exposures in US Veterans Deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan

J Occup Environ Med. 2023 Sep 1;65(9):740-744. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002919. Epub 2023 Jun 24.

Authors

Mosammat M Perveen¹, Henry E Mayo-Malasky, Mary F Lee-Wong, Julie M Tomaska, Edward Forsyth, Amy Gravely, Mark A Klein, Janeen H Trembley, Tammy A Butterick, Robert A Promisloff, Pamela K Ginex, Paul Barach, Anthony M Szema

Affiliation

¹ From the SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York (M.M.P.); Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, New York, New York (H.E.M.-M.); Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York (M.F.L.-W.); Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York (M.F.L.-W.); Burn Pits 360 Veterans Organization, Robstown, Texas (J.M.T.); Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, Valencia, California (E.F); Hematology and Oncology Section, Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.A.K.); Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.A.K.); Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (M.A.K., J.H.T.); Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, Minnesota (J.H.T., T.A.B.); Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (J.H.T.); Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota (T.A.B.); Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (T.A.B.); Center for Veterans Research and Education, Minneapolis, Minnesota (T.A.B., A.G.); Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (R.A.P.); Stony Brook University School of Nursing and Stony Brook University Cancer Center, Stony Brook, New York (P.K.G.); Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (P.B.); Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Division of Allergy/Immunology, Department of Medicine, Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, New York, Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, New York (A.M.S.); Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention, International Center of Excellence in Deployment Health and Medical Geosciences, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, New York (A.M.S.); Stony Brook University, Department of Technology and Society, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Stony Brook, New York (A.M.S.); Three Village Allergy and Asthma, PLLC, South Setauket, New York (A.M.S.); and RDS2 Solutions, Inc, Stony Brook, New York (A.M.S.).

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study is to describe rates of hematuria and other lower urinary tract symptoms, including self-reported cancer rates, among veterans postburn pits emissions exposure during deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Methods: US post-9/11 veterans with burn pits emissions exposure confirmed via DD214 forms in the Burn Pits360.org Registry were sent a modified survey. Data were deidentified and anonymously coded.

Results: Twenty-nine percent of the 155 respondents exposed to burn pits self-reported seeing blood in their urine. The average index score of our modified American Urological Association Symptom Index Survey was 12.25 (SD, 7.48). High rates of urinary frequency (84%) and urgency (76%) were self-reported. Bladder, kidney, or lung cancers were self-reported in 3.87%.

Conclusions: US veterans exposed to burn pits are self-reporting hematuria and other lower urinary tract symptoms.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Afghan Campaign 2001-
Afghanistan
Hematuria / epidemiology
Hematuria / etiology
Humans
Incineration
Iraq
Iraq War, 2003-2011
Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms*
Military Personnel*
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / epidemiology
Veterans*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding