Veteran Services Transparency

Overall, the lack of consistent findings relating oil well fires to Gulf War illness, particularly from the methodologically stronger studies, and the modest degree of risk identified by studies that found a significant association, indicate that the Kuwaiti oil well fires are not likely to have been the primary cause of Gulf War multisymptom illness for the majority of affected veterans. This general conclusion is qualified, however, by indications from several studies that more intense or sustained exposures may be associated with multisymptom illness, and the lack of information concerning the subset of veterans with particularly high exposures. In addition, one high-quality study has provided evidence that smoke exposure from the Kuwaiti oil fires is associated with an excess rate of asthma in the subset of Gulf War veterans with higher-level exposures.

However, additional information is required to determine if higher level oil well fire exposures may have contributed to the risk of Gulf War illness or diagnosed medical conditions in identifiable subsets of Gulf War veterans. To address remaining questions related to long-term health effects of the Kuwaiti oil fires, the Committee recommends the following research:

• Analyze data collected from completed and ongoing epidemiologic studies to determine whether the subset of Gulf War veterans with the highest level exposures to smoke, oil, and particulates from the Kuwaiti oil well fires have elevated rates of Gulf War illness or other conditions. Such analyses should properly adjust for confounding effects of other Gulf War exposures.
• Conduct additional analyses of existing data from the U.S. national survey of Gulf War veterans and the Phase III clinical study to determine if rates of upper and lower respiratory conditions, pulmonary function abnormalities, or other medical conditions are significantly associated with modeled or self-reported levels of oil fire exposures.
• Continue monitoring cancer rates in Gulf War veterans, including assessment of cancer rates among subsets of veterans identified by modeled levels of oil fire exposures, self-reported oil fire exposure levels, and/or locations and time periods of deployment.

Sources: Gulf War Illness and Health of Gulf War Veterans from the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses

“There were no less than three days when the smoke ‘hugged’ the ground, and turned the sunlit, bright day into a dark of night. Myself and others traveled the ‘coastal highway’ from Kuwait City down to Saudi Arabia on April 1st, 1991, and the petroleum-thickened air was so impregnated that we choked on oil while breathing through our doubled-up scarves and we were forced to stop and clear the raw petroleum off vehicle windshields and our goggles constantly. At some points on the highway the oil-thickened air was so thick our vehicle headlights could not penetrate the air further than 10-15 feet, and Marine escorts were needed to walk on foot ahead of the vehicles to keep us on the highway.”
–-Marine Corps Captain