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File: cia_72232_72232_01.txt
Page: 01
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Subject: GULF WAR SYNDROME Not Finally Evaluated Intelligence TO FACILITATE ELECTRONIC ACCESS, THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REFORMATTED TO ELIMINATE INFORMATION THAT DOES NOT PERTAIN TO GULF WAR ILLNESS ISSUES OR THAT IS CLASSIFIED. A COPY OF THIS REDACTED DOCUMENT, IN ORIGINAL FORMAT, IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST. JULY 1995 SUBJECT: GULF WAR SYNDROME 1. AT YOUR REQUEST, WE HAVE ATTEMPTED TO RELATE THE ACCOUNTS OF VETERANS SUFFERING FROM GULF WAR SYNDROME WITH THE AVAILABLE INFORMATION ON IRAQI SCUD MISSILES. WE HAVE CONCLUDED THAT WHILE SOME ACCOUNTS WHICH CITE SCUD MISSILES ARE PROBABLY RELATED TO SOMETHING ELSE, OTHER ACCOUNTS ARE ACCURATE AND SOME VETERANS WERE PROBABLY EXPOSED TO RED FUMING NITRIC ACID (RFNA), A CHEMICAL PROPELLANT USED BY SCUD MISSILES. 2. AT LAUNCH, AN IRAQI SCUD CONTAINS ABOUT 3,500 KG (7,700 LBS) OF RFNA AND ABOUT 1,000 KG (2,200 LBS) OF KEROSENE. MOST OF THE RFNA AND KEROSENE ARE USED WITHIN THE FIRST 80 SECONDS OF FLIGHT WHILE THE MISSILE IS GAINING ENOUGH SPEED TO REACH ITS TARGET. WHEN THIS SPEED IS REACHED, THE SCUD SHUTS OFF ITS ENGINE BY SHUTTING OFF THE PROPELLANT TANKS. THE UNUSED PROPELLANTS, ROUGHLY 150 KG (330 LBS) OF RFNA, AND 50 KG (110 LBS) OF KEROSENE REMAIN ON-BOARD FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FLIGHT. 3. THE HAZARDS POSED BY THESE UNUSED SCUD PROPELLANTS ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED NEGLIGIBLE IN THE PRESENCE OF A FULL YIELD WARHEAD DETONATION. FULL YIELD DETONATIONS RARELY OCCURRED HOWEVER BECAUSE OF PATRIOT, AND BECAUSE OF THE POOR RELIABILITY OF THE IRAQI SCUDS. IN FACT, SOME SCUDS SIMPLY BROKE APART AND CAME DOWN IN PIECES. SHOWN BELOW IS ONE OF A NUMBER OF RFNA TANKS WHICH LANDED VIRTUALLY INTACT AND ALMOST CERTAINLY CONTAINED HARMFUL AMOUNTS OF RFNA. SUBJECT: GULF WAR SYNDROME 4. WE BELIEVE THAT INDIVIDUALS IN THE VICINITY OF IMPACTING SCUD DEBRIS COULD HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO NOTICEABLE LEVELS OF RFNA. THE MOST LIKELY HAZARDS WOULD BE EXPOSURE TO THE NITROGEN DIOXIDE (NO2) FUMES ASSOCIATED WITH RFNA, AND DROPLETS OF NITRIC ACID (HNO3). (RFNA IS ROUGHLY THREE PARTS NITRIC ACID AND ONE PART NITROGEN DIOXIDE. HOWEVER, AERODYNAMIC HEATING.ON THE SCUDS WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE NITROGEN DIOXIDE VAPOR LEVELS AS WELL AS INCREASE THE CORROSIVENESS OF THE NITRIC ACID.) 5. WE BELIEVE THAT 150 KG OF RFNA DISPERSED AT OR NEAR IMPACT WOULD BE VISUALLY NOTED AS A LARGE REDDISH-BROWN CLOUD WHICH MAY PERSIST FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES. AT LEVELS WHICH WOULD CREATE NOTICEABLE SKIN, EYE, AND RESPIRATORY EFFECTS, THE HAZARD AREA COULD BE AS LARGE AS 2 KM TO 3 KM DOWNWIND AND 100 METERS TO 200 METERS WIDE FOR A "WORST CASE" DISPERSAL. RFNA DISPERSED ABOVE 3 KILOMETERS ALTITUDE WOULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE ANY HAZARD TO PEOPLE ON THE GROUND. WE WOULD NOT EXPECT CONCENTRATIONS TO REACH LETHAL LEVEL'S IN ANY REASONABLE CASE, AND ALL OF THE RFNA WOULD PROBABLY EVAPORATE FROM THE SCUD DEBRIS IN A MATTER OF HOURS OR LESS. NOTE THAT ANY DISPERSAL OF RFNA FROM SCUDS WAS UNINTENTIONAL. THAT IS, THE SCUDS HAD NO RFNA DISPERSAL MECHANISMS. 6. EXACT RFNA EXPOSURE LEVELS TO INDIVIDUALS ON THE GROUND WILL DEPEND ON HOW MUCH RFNA REMAINED IN THE MISSILE AFTER LAUNCH, HOW THE RFNA WAS ULTIMATELY RELEASED AS THE MISSILE REACHED ITS TARGET, ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS SUCH AS WINDS AND HUMIDITY, AND THE INDIVIDUALS RELATIVE LOCATION AND SHELTER. THE HAZARDS AND SYMPTOMS OF EXPOSURE TO RFNA, TAKEN FROM A ROCKET PROPELLANT MANUAL, ARE AS FOLLOWS: SUBJECT: GULF WAR SYNDROME 1. GENERAL: THE HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF THE FUMING NITRIC ACIDS ARE OF TWO TYPES: A. CORROSION OF BODY TISSUE ON CONTACT WITH THE LIQUID; B. LUNG INJURY AFTER INHALATION OF THE VAPOR AND/OR DECOMPOSITION PRODUCTS OF THE ACID, THE OXIDES OF NITROGEN (THE TYPE III ACIDS CONTAIN OXIDES OF NITROGEN IN SOLU- TION). NITRIC ACID IS AN EXTREMELY CORROSIVE LIQUID WHICH WILL SEVERELY BURN TISSUE ON CON- TACT. THE EYES ARE ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO IMMEDIATE DAMAGE FOLLOWING CONTACT WITH THE LIQUID OR THE CONCENTRATED VAPOR. SUCH CONTACT MAY RESULT IN PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE WITH SUBSEQUENT IMPAIRMENT OF VISION. THE GREATEST DANGER FROM INHALATION OF THE HIGHLY TOXIC OXIDES OF NITROGEN, PARTICU- LARY NITROGEN DIOXIDE, IS THE DELAYED DEVELOPMENT OF PULMONARY EDEMA. NITROGEN DIOXIDE IS A REDDISH-BROWN GAS WHICH EXISTS IN EQUILIBRIUM WITH ITS COLORLESS DIMER, NITROGEN TETROXIDE AT BODY TEMPERATURE THE EQUILIBRIUM MIXTURE IS DARK BROWN, AND AT 140' FT IS BLACK, BUT THE INTENSITY OF COLOR DOES NOT INDICATE THE DEGREE OF DANGER. OXIDES OF NITROGEN ARE FORMED WHENEVER NITRIC ACID COMES IN CONTACT WITH CERTAIN HEAVY METALS SUCH AS COPPER, BRASS, OR ZINC, OR WITH ANY ORGANIC MATERIAL SUCH AS WOOD, CLOTH, OR PAPER. THE APPEARANCE OF SYMPTOMS FOLLOWING INHALATION OF TOXIC NITROGEN OXIDES MAY BE DELAYED FROM 4 TO 30 HOURS. DURING THIS TIME, THE VICTIM MAY FEEL EXTREMELY FATIGUED AND SHOW SIGNS OF ABNORMALLY LOW BLOOD PRESSURE. FOLLOWING THE 4 TO 30 HOUR LATENT PERIOD, THE SYMPTOMS, WHICH MAY BE PRECIPITATED BY EXERTION, APPEAR. THESE SYMPTOMS INCLUDE HEADACHE, DIZZINESS, LASSITUDE, NAUSEA, VOMITTING, CYANOSIS (A BLUE TINGE TO THE MUCOUS MEM BRANES OF THE MOUTH AND EYELIDS AND THE LIPS AND FINGERNAIL BEDS), ANXIETY, DIFFICULT BREATHIRLG, CHOKING AND SUFFOCATION. 7. THE FORGOING SYMPTOMS OF RFNA EXPOSURE ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH SOME TESTIMONIES GIVEN TO SENATE STAFF BY VETERANS WHO HAD BEEN IN THE VICINITY OF IMPACTING SCUDS AND SCUD DEBRIS. FOR EXAMPLE, CONSIDER MS. PATRICIA BROWNING'S ACCOUNT OF A CONFIRMED SCUD MISSILE ATTACK ON DAHRAN. MS. BROWNING SAID THAT HER EYES BEGAN TO BURN, AND SHE SMELLED A STRONG ODOR THAT REMINDED HER OF AMMONIA. SHORTLY AFTERWARDS SHE BROKE OUT IN A RASH AND BEGAN EXPERIENCING HEADACHES, NAUSEA, VOMITING, AND SENSITIVITY TO BRIGHT LIGHTS. MR. RANDALL VALLEE WAS ALSO NEARBY AND DESCRIBED A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE. HE RECALLED BECOMING NAUSEOUS, WEAK, DIZZY, SWEATING PROFUSELY, AND HIS VISION BECAME BLURRY. HE CLAIMS THAT WHEN HE WENT OUTSIDE, AFTER THE ALL CLEAR WAS GIVEN, HE IMMEDIATELY NOTICED A 'VERY SUFFOCATING SMELL, AS THOUGH THERE WASN'T ENOUGH AIR TO BI7EATH,,,,KIND OF LIKE AMMONIA, BUT VERY STRONG.,, 8. MANY OF THE SCUD ATTACKS WERE AT NIGHT WHEN IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE REDDISH-BROWN RFNA VAPORS. MR. RICHARD VOSS WITNESSED A CONFIRMED DAYTIME SCUD ATTACK, WHERE THE MISSILE IMPACTED TO THE EAST OF HAFFA AL BATIN, ABOUT ONE MILE AWAY FROM HIS VEHICLE. HE CLAIMS TO HAVE SEEN A LARGE DARK BROWN CLOUD RISE UP, WHICH WE BELIEVE COULD HAVE BEEN RFNA VAPORS. MR. MICHAEL KINGSBURY ALSO REPORTED SEEING A RAINBOW IN THE SKY AFTER A SCUD ATTACK ON RIYAD. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY KEROSENE OR LIQUID RFNA DROPLETS FROM A SCUD AFTER IT EITHER BROKE UP OR WAS INTERCEPTED BY PATRIOT. SUBJECT: GULF WAR SYNDROME 9. THE FACT THAT SOME VETERANS WERE PROBABLY EXPOSED TO NOTICEABLE LEVELS OF RFNA, AND THAT THIS AGREES WITH SOME OF THEIR ACCOUNTS, LEADS US TO BELIEVE THAT THIS MAY EXPLAIN A PART OF GULF WAR SYNDROME -- BUT NOT ALL. SOME ACCOUNTS CITE SCUD MISSILES AT A TIME AND PLACE WHERE THERE WERE NONE. SOME ACCOUNTS DO NOT AGREE WITH WHAT WOULD BE EXPECTED FOR RFNA EXPOSURE. ADDITIONAL CONFUSION OCCURS WHEN INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS DO NOT INCLUDE EXACT DATES, PLACES, AND TIMES. THERE ARE ALSO CHEMICAL HAZARDS OTHER THAN SCUDS. 10. A PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS IS NEEDED (PROBABLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS) TO DETERMINE WHICH VETERANS WHERE EXPOSED TO RFNA, WHAT, IF ANY, OF THEIR CURRENT AILMENTS ARE A RESULT OF THI EXPOSURE, AND IF RFNA EXPOSURE COULD, IN ANY WAY, BE COMMUNICABLE. AS A POSSIBLE AID, WE HAVE ATTACHED A@TOP SHOWING THE MOST LIKELY REGIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL EXPOSURE TO RFNA FROM SCUDS. A DETAILED STUDY OF SPECIFIC MISSILE ATTACKS COULD BE PERFORMED IF NECESSARY. SUBJECT: GULF WAR SYNDROME OSWR (19 JULY 95)
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