Cancer – Page 10 – Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors

Irish Air Corps Chemical List Update – Trichloroethylene (TCE)

We have just added a link to information on Trichloroethylene from PubChem the Open Chemistry Database. Please have a look at green links on our chemical info page here. We will add more on a regular basis.

It is interesting to note the large number of illnesses associated with or suspected from Trichloroethylene exposure. How many colleagues do we know who have died or are affected by some of the following?

Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Cervical Cancer
Liver Cancer
Kidney Cancer
Lung Tumours
Liver Tumours
Kidney Tumours
Testicular Tumors
Irritation of eyes, skin;
Headache
Visual disturbance
Lassitude (weakness, exhaustion)
Dizziness
Tremor
Drowsiness
Nausea
Vomiting
Dermatitis
Cardiac arrhythmias
Paresthesia
Liver injury
Male reproductive toxin
Developmental effects
Increase in miscarriages
Congenital heart disease in children
Increased histamine release & inflammatory cytokine production from antigen-stimulated mast cells

EPA: Carcinogenic to humans, IARC: Carcinogenic to humans (evidence for cancer is based on kidney cancer, limited evidence for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and liver cancer, as well as, various tumors in animals). NTP: Known to be a Human Carcinogen.

Trichloroethylene also goes by the synonyms below as well as a large number of trade names.

Ethinyl Trichloride
Trichloride, Ethinyl
Trichloroethene (not to be confused with Trichloroethane)
Trielina
Trilene

The University of Limerick failed to inform students of Baldonnel chemical fears

The University of Limerick failed to pass on health concerns about the Air Corps hangars to its work placement students, despite several warnings over chemical exposure fears.

Irish Air Corps Non Destructive Testing (NTD) Workshop

Although it was told that students “may have been exposed to toxic chemicals and organic solvents during the course of their work placement”, UL did not follow up on requests to inform the relevant students.

The warnings came over six months before the Health and Safety Authority issued a damning report on the Air Corps’ management of harmful chemicals at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel.

Dáil Éireann Written Answers 05/04/17 – Irish Army Air Corps – Main Technical Stores Air Quality Test Reports

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will provide a copy of the results of the air-quality test that was carried out in the Main Technical Stores, Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel and adjoining office complex on the 9 February 2017 by an external assessor. [16892/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)

The Occupational Air Survey Report referred to by the Deputy was forwarded to the Military Authorities on 28th March 2017 by the external assessor.

The monitoring found that none of the areas tested exceeded the Occupational Exposure Limits outlined in the 2016 Code of Practice for the Safety, Health and Welfare (Chemical Agents) Regulations, 2001.

In line with the recommendations of the report, I am informed by the Military Authorities that;

1. All personnel working in the Technical Stores building were paraded and informed of the content of the report and its findings.

2. The report is currently available for viewing by all personnel at the Air Corps Health and Safety Office.

3. In due course the report will be published on the Defence Forces Intranet site.

It is good news that none of the tested areas of Main Technical Stores at Baldonnel have exceeded the Occupational Exposure Limits outlined in the 2016 Code of Practice for the Safety, Health and Welfare (Chemical Agents) Regulations, 2001.

It is disappointing however that Minister Paul Kehoe has not shared any details for the Air Quality report including the exact locations tested nor the actual results.

If there is nothing to hide, please publish the report in full on the Department of Defence website.

Profile of patients with chemical injury and sensitivity

Patients reporting sensitivity to multiple chemicals at levels usually tolerated by the healthy population were administered standardised questionnaires to evaluate their symptoms and the exposures that aggravated these symptoms. Many patients were referred for medical tests.

It is thought that patients with chemical sensitivity have organ abnormalities involving the liver, nervous system (brain, including limbic, peripheral, autonomic), immune system, and porphyrin metabolism, probably reflecting chemical injury to these systems. Laboratory results are not consistent with a psychological origin of chemical sensitivity.

Substantial overlap between chemical sensitivity, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome exists: the latter two conditions often involve chemical sensitivity and may even be the same disorder. Other disorders commonly seen in chemical sensitivity patients include headache (often migraine), chronic fatigue, musculoskeletal aching, chronic respiratory inflammation (rhinitis, sinusitis, laryngitis, asthma), attention deficit, and hyperactivity (affected younger children). Less common disorders include tremor, seizures, and mitral valve prolapse. Patients with these overlapping disorders should be evaluated for chemical sensitivity and excluded from control groups in future research.

Agents whose exposures are associated with symptoms and suspected of causing onset of chemical sensitivity with chronic illness include gasoline, kerosene, natural gas, pesticides (especially chlordane and chlorpyrifos), solvents, new carpet and other renovation materials, adhesives/glues, fiberglass, carbonless copy paper, fabric softener, formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, carpet shampoos (lauryl sulfate) and other cleaning agents, isocyanates, combustion products (poorly vented gas heaters, overheated batteries), and medications (dinitrochlorobenzene for warts, intranasally packed neosynephrine, prolonged antibiotics, and general anesthesia with petrochemicals).

Multiple mechanisms of chemical injury that magnify response to exposures in chemically sensitive patients can include neurogenic inflammation (respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary), kindling and time-dependent sensitisation (neurologic), impaired porphyrin metabolism (multiple organs), and immune activation.

Please download the full report from US National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health.

Profile of patients with chemical injury and sensitivity.

The other whistleblowers: Looking at the human cost of the #IrishAirCorps chemical scandal

AN AIR CORPS whistle-blower who claims he was exposed to harmful chemicals whilst in the force believes there could be more than 1,000 people affected by what he has described as “a scandal of the highest order”.

In an interview with TheJournal.ie, the man – who we are not naming as he has made a protected disclosure – detailed the trouble he experiences with daily life which he alleges traces back to his exposure to chemicals over a nine-year period at Baldonnel Airfield in west Dublin.

A 2016 inspection by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) identified a number of shortcomings at Baldonnel with corrective actions then taken by the Defence Forces in relation to how it handles such chemicals.

According to the HSA report seen by TheJournal.ie, the Air Corps was warned it could face prosecution if it did not “comply with advice and relevant legal requirements” about how hazardous substances were managed, among other safety matters.

No probe of Irish Army Air Corps chemical exposure

The Government says it has no plans to establish a review to determine if the chronic illnesses suffered by former Air Corps staff were as a result of exposure to chemicals while working at Casement Aerodrome.

This is despite similar studies and investigations in Australia and the Netherlands.

The State is currently facing six legal actions from former Air Corps staff, who claim their chronic illnesses were caused by their working conditions at the military airfield in south-west Dublin.

Meanwhile, an official has been appointed to investigate claims by three whistleblowers, who made a number of allegations around the current health and safety measures within the Air Corps.

Last October, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) issued a report calling on the Air Corps to implement a number of improvements on the management of staff exposure to hazardous chemicals.

However, responding to a question from Sinn Féin defence spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh, junior defence minister Paul Kehoe said the Government did not intend to commission any specific study to investigate whether working conditions at Casement Aerodrome had an adverse effect on workers’ health.

“There are a number of processes already in train relating to reviewing health-and-safety procedures in the Air Corps,” said Mr Kehoe of the review of the whistleblowers’ claims and the Defence Forces’ response to the HSA report.

“In the circumstances and pending the completion of the ongoing processes, I have no plans to commission another review on this matter.”

Irish Army Air Corps: Concerns over scope of review of allegations made by whistleblowers

Concerns have been raised about the scope of the ongoing review of allegations made by Air Corps whistle-blowers. They claimed that staff were unnecessarily exposed to cancer-causing chemicals.

Last month, this newspaper revealed that the Health and Safety Authority threatened legal action against the Air Corps, unless it improved its management of technicians’ exposure to toxic substances.

The report came in October 2016, almost a year after three whistle-blowers made protected disclosures to the Government about Air Corps technicians’ exposure to harmful substances.

The Irish Examiner can now reveal that the independent third party appointed to review the protected disclosures, which were made between November 2015 and January 2016, has met with all three of the whistle-blowers.

Dutch Department of Defence knew about toxic paint risks 25 years ago

Letters obtained from health and safety inspectors and minutes of meetings reveal that the Defence Ministry was aware of the health risks associated with carcinogenic paint since 1987, but did not take steps to protect staff until eleven years later, according to broadcaster NOS.

Nearly two hundred defence employees complained about chromium-6, a toxic substance in the paint and varnish used on tanks and fighter aircraft in a number of workshops. Earlier this month, a historical investigation was launched by the National Institute for Public Health and Environment to investigate all complaints.

Article originally published 2nd October 2014

Dutch Ministry of Defence pays out €2.1 million so far in Ex Gratia Chromium-6 Exposure Compensation Scheme.

So far the Ministry of Defense paid out more than 2.1 million euros to 309 employees and former employees who became ill after working with paint containing carcinogenic substance Chromium-6, a Defense spokesperson confirmed to NU.nl.

The Defense workers in question took advantage of a goodwill scheme the Ministry instituted two years ago for Chromium-6 victims. Employees and former employees who worked with the toxic paint for more than a year and are sick can claim between 3 thousand and 15 thousand from the scheme, without the Ministry of Defense acknowledging guilt for their illness. The compensation scheme will remain in place until public health institute RIVM finished its investigation into the risks and health effects of using Chromium-6.

According to the spokesperson, Defense employees from across the Netherlands applied to the scheme. The Ministry received a total of 719 applications, 255 of which were immediately approved. Another 54 were approved or partly approved after the employee objected.

The compensation scheme shall remain in force until the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) research into the risks and health effects of Chromium-6 has been completed

Dáil Éireann Written Answers 23/02/2017 – Department of Defence – Health and Safety Inspections

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the Health and Safety Authority inspections of the Air Corps at Casement Aerodrome were by invitation or as a result of complaints, regarding ongoing and long-term health and safety violations, by serving and former personnel. [9393/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)

I am advised by the military authorities that the three inspections conducted by the Health and Safety Authority at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel in 2016 were as a result of a complaint the Authority received in relation to chemical safety in the Air Corps.

The military authorities have further advised that they have no details regarding the source of this complaint.