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Pesticides could have poisoned service personnel

BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE CORRESPONDENT

PESTICIDES may have poisoned some of the servicemen and women suffering from so-called Gulf War syndrome, according to the latest Ministry of Defence research. The pesticides were used in heavy doses against a plague of disease-carrying flies and bugs in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

A senior MoD official said the discovery that British troops serving in the Gulf in 1990 and 1991 had been engaged in much larger-scale pesticide spraying than had been realised did not solve the mystery over the many illnesses affecting hundreds of Gulf War veterans. "This is not the answer for those claiming to be suffering from Gulf War syndrome but it could be a factor." The discovery would be thoroughly reviewed by an MoD medical assessment team under Group Captain Bill Coker, a consultant physi cian who has been examining those claiming to be suffering from Gulf War syndrome.

MoD medical experts said the organophosphate pesticides would have caused serious sickness almost immediately if inhaled during spraying. Organophosphate insecticides, including diazinon, which is acknowledged to be a dangerous substance if used without proper protection, were sprayed on all the British military tents because of the "large problem of flies" affecting British troops in Saudi Arabia. The Americans who were also suffering from plagues of flies and bugs, used the same insecticides. The MoD medical experts said the number of British military personnel possibly suffering from pesticide poisoning would have been small, affecting those involved in carrying out the spraying. One official said it may have been only about half a dozen.

The medical reports on the 750 Gulf War veterans examined so far will be reviewed to see if any of them had suffered symptoms associated with organophosphate poisoning, including tingling and numbness in the fingers and toes.

Although poisoning from pesticides normally manifested itself within three months, there could be longer-term cases where personnel had further contact with the pesticides on other occasions. It could then lead to asthma, the medical experts said.

More than 1,100 Gulf War veterans are now suffering from a range of illnesses, including chronic fatigue, swollen joints and headaches.

The area worst affected by flies was at Al Jubayl, the huge port on the east coast of Saudi Arabia where the majority of Britain's 50,000 Gulf War troops were based. Pesticide supplies sent from Britain were inadequate, so permission was given for stocks to be bought from local sources. The MoD official said some of the pesticides may have been sprayed in breach of strict procedures and this was being investigated.

The senior MoD official said every attempt was being made to discover whether there was any common factor among those suffering from illnesses which could be directly related to their service in the Gulf. A big research programme into Gulf health issues is to be launched next month, overseen by the Medical Research Council.

The official denied that British troops could have been affected by a chemical cloud that rose from an Iraqi chemical weapons bunker destroyed by American bombers. Up to 14,000 American soldiers could have been affected. The nearest British were more than 87 miles away to the south of the chemical dump. CIA investigators had discovered that the cloud had drifted northeast, the official said. The discovery was detailed in a letter from Nicholas Soames, the Armed Forces Minister, to Michael Colvin, chairman of the all-party Commons Defence Committee. Richard Barr, a solicitor representing 125 Gulf War veterans, said the MoD disclosure was very important, as research had proved that the effect of organophosphates was increased ten-fold when combined with nerve gas protection tablets. All troops were given the tablets. "The MoD admission is very much more significant than it appears at first sight," he said. Veterans had spoken of tents "absolutely running" with pesticides.