In the spring of 1980, the Department of the Army asked the Committee on Toxicology of the National Research Council's Board on Toxicology and Environmental Health Hazards to study the possible chronic or delayed adverse health effects incurred by servicemen who had been exposed experimentally to various chemicals at the U.S. Army Laboratories, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, Maryland, during 1955-1975. The Edgewood tests were conducted to learn how potential chemical warfare agents might affect humans over a short period and how such affected humans might respond to therapy for the effects of such agents. The Army believed that relevant information could not be obtained from animal experimentation alone and that it was necessary to confirm animal findings by using human volunteers.

Contents

• COORDINATING SUBCOMMITTEE
• COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
• BOARD ON TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH HAZARDS
• PREFACE
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• INTRODUCTION
• THE MEDICAL FOLLOW-UP STUDY
  • ANALYTIC PROBLEMS
  • METHODS OF STUDY
  • RESULTS
• DISCUSSION
  • ANTICHOLINESTERASE CHEMICALS
  • ANTICHOLINERGIC CHEMICALS
  • CHOLINESTERASE REACTIVATORS
  • PSYCHOCHEMICALS
  • IRRITANTS AND VESICANTS
  • LSD DERIVATIVES
• CONCLUSIONS
• TABLES
• REFERENCES
• APPENDIX A EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES OF VOLUMES 1 AND 2
• APPENDIX B UPDATED MORTALITY STUDY (SUMMARY)
• APPENDIX C INTERPRETABILITY OF FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONNAIRE DATA
• APPENDIX D COHORT ADJUSTMENT OF FERTILITY FOR ANTICHOLINERGIC TEST GROUP, USING NO-CHEMICAL-TEST GROUP FOR COMPARISON
• APPENDIX E THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND RELATED MATERIAL (EXHIBITS A, B, C, D, AND E)

This study was prepared under Contracts DAMD-17-83-C-3185 and DAMD-17-83-C-3045 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of the Army.

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.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. The Council operates in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy under the authority of its congressional charter of 1863, which establishes the Academy as a private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970, respectively, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences.