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Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan Exposed to Toxic Dust

There is no way to spend time in the Middle East without inhaling the dust particles that exist in the sand. According to recent research, however, that dust can contain a toxic combination of metals and other elements.

The discovery of the toxic components has lead some researchers to conclude this is the cause of many Gulf War Syndrome symptoms, which originally appeared in 1991, and are still appearing in soldiers currently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Approximately 1,000 dust particles can fit on the head of a pin, so soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq will not know they are inhaling poison until it is too late. Both natural occurrence and pollution have placed the metals in the sands. Researchers found a total of 37 metals existing in the toxic dust particles.

The discovered metals include and range from aluminum, lead, and manganese to strontium and tin. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports have made direct connections between these metals and serious health conditions such as neurological conditions and cancers.

Droughts tend to exacerbate the problem because they kill shrubs, which serve to suppress the dust and there have been several recent droughts in the area. Soldiers breathing the dust take it deep into their lungs.

Unfortunately, researchers discovered 147 different varieties of bacteria and multiple variations of disease-spreading fungi exist in the sand, all being drawn into soldiers' lungs.

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