Risk management is especially important for military forces deployed in hostile and/or chemically contaminated environments, and on-line or rapid turn-around capabilities for assessing exposures can create viable options for preventing or minimizing incapaciting exposures or latent disease or disability in the years after the deployment. With military support for the development, testing, and validation of state-of-the-art personal and area sensors, telecommunications, and data management resources, the DOD can enhance its capabilities for meeting its novel and challenging tasks and create technologies that will find widespread civilian uses.

Strategies to Protect the Health of Deployed U.S. Forces assesses currently available options and technologies for productive pre-deployment environmental surveillance, exposure surveillance during deployments, and retrospective exposure surveillance post-deployment. This report also considers some opportunities for technological and operational advancements in technology for more effective exposure surveillance and effects management options for force deployments in future years.

Contents

• The National Academies
• Principal Investigator
• Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
• Commission on Life Sciences
• Other Reports of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
• Background
• Collection and Use of Personal Exposure and Human Biological-Marker Information for Assessing Risks to Deployed U.S. Forces in Hostile Environments
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Information Needs for Assessing Personal Exposures and Risks for Deployed Forces
  • Options for Pre-Deployment Baseline Determinations
  • Options for Collection of Data During Field Deployments
  • Options for Post-Deployment Exposure Assessments
  • Maximizing Effective use of Sample and Data Resources
  • Current Technological Capabilities for Personal Exposure Assessment
  • Assessing Risks from Personal Exposures
  • References
• Characteristics of the Future Battlefield and Deployment
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Types of Warfare
  • Operations Other Than War
  • Non-Traditional Weapons
  • Physical Effects
  • Psychological Effects
  • Long-Term and Reproductive Effects
  • Character of Deployed Forces
  • Conclusions
  • References
  • Additional References (Not Cited)
• The Nature of Risk Assessment and Its Application to Deployed U.S. Forces
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • General Nature of Risk Assessment
  • Typical Uses of Risk-Assessment Results
  • Risks to Employed U.S. Forces: Overview of Proposed Assessment and Management Frameworks
  • Stressors of Concern and Their Sources and Pathways to Deployed Forces
  • Hazard Identification
  • Dose-Response Evaluation
  • Assessment of Exposures of Deployed Forces
  • References
• Future Health Assessment and Risk-Management Integration for Infectious Diseases and Biological Weapons for Deployed U.S. Forces
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Review of Past Incidences and Future Risks
  • Risk-Assessment and Risk-Management Strategies
  • Building Databases for Naturally-Occurring Microbial Hazards and Biological Weapons
  • Dod Infectious Disease Research Laboratories
  • Lessons Learned and Recommendations
  • References
• Approaches for Using Toxicokinetic Information in Assessing Risk to Deployed U.S. Forces
  • Abstract
  • Toxicity
  • Dose and Time as Variables of Toxicity
  • Decision Tree
  • Conclusions
  • Appendix 1
  • Appendix 2
  • References
• Health Risks and Preventive Research Strategy for Deployed U.S. Forces from Toxicological Interactions Among Potentially Harmful Agents
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Toxicological Interactions At Low Doses
  • Multiple Stressors and Sensitive Populations
  • Preventive Research Strategy
  • Future Perspectives
  • List of Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgement
  • References
• Appendix Biographical Information on Commissioned Authors

This project was supported by Contract No. DASW01-97-C-0078 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Defense. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.