"Holy Cow, Where do I Sign up?" Attitudes of Military Veterans Toward Epigenomic Biomarker Toxic Exposure Testing

Abstract

Introduction: After the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act in 2022, there has been a great interest in studying toxic exposures encountered during military service. Development of epigenomic biomarkers for exposures could facilitate understanding of exposure-related health effects, but such testing could also provide unwanted information.

Materials and methods: We explored attitudes toward epigenomic biomarker research and the potential to test for past exposures using semistructured interviews with Veterans (n = 22) who experienced potentially harmful exposures.

Results: Twenty Veterans said they would hypothetically want to receive epigenomic information related to their toxic exposures and potential health impacts as part of a research study. Veterans identified 9 potential benefits, including promoting insights concerning intergenerational health, identification of early health interventions, and additional knowledge or explanation for their experiences. Sixteen participants noted potential risks, including psychological distress, receiving nonactionable, uncertain, or inaccurate results, and privacy and discrimination risks. Ten participants identified at least 1 condition in their children that they thought could be related to their exposure and most said they would be interested in receiving research results related to their children's and grandchildren's risk.

Conclusion: Results suggest that Veterans might welcome benefits of epigenomic research related to military exposures, yet have some concerns about potential negative impacts.