You may be at risk of:

• Health problems caused by toxic chemicals or other hazardous materials in the environment, like:

  • Sand, dust, and particulates: Tiny matter found in the air
  • Burn pit smoke: Smoke from open-air pits often used to get rid of waste (like chemicals, paints, munitions, and other substances) at military sites in Iraq
  • Depleted uranium: Uranium used in military tank armor and some bullets
  • Sulfur fire (Al Mishraq, Iraq): A fire at a sulfur plant that burned for almost a month in June 2003 and released large amounts of sulfur dioxide into the air
  • Chemical warfare agents (OIF): Exposure to mustard or nerve agents from demolishing or handling explosive ordnance in Iraq
  • Chromium (Qarmat Ali, Basrah, Iraq): Hexavalent chromium (a chemical known to cause cancer) found in contaminated sodium dichromate dust at the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Facility in 2003

• Injuries caused by:

  • Extreme heat: Health problems (like heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and sunburn) that can be caused by serving in hot desert climates
  • Toxic embedded fragments: Shrapnel and other metals (some containing chemicals) that stay in your body after an injury and can cause injury at the site of the fragment or in other parts of your body
  • Explosions: Explosions that can cause concussions and traumatic brain injury (TBI), an injury to the head that affects the way your brain works
  • Noise: Harmful sounds from guns, explosives, rockets, heavy weapons, jets and aircraft, and machinery that can cause or contribute to hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears)

• Illnesses caused by:

  • Infectious diseases: There are 9 infectious diseases related to Southwest Asia and Afghanistan military service. These are malaria, brucellosis, campylobacter jejuni, coxiella burnetii (Q Fever), mycobacterium tuberculosis, nontyphoid salmonella, shigella, visceral leishmaniasis, and West Nile Virus.
  • Rabies: A disease that you get from a bite or contact with saliva from an infected animal

• Illnesses or injuries caused by occupational (job-related) hazards: Chemicals, paints, radiation, and other hazards you may have come in contact with through your military job

• Side effects of Mefloquine (brand name: Lariam®): A drug given to military personnel to help protect against malaria (an infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes)