Study of Health Outcomes in Aircraft Maintenance Personnel (SHOAMP)

A research team from the University of Newcastle (Australia) has completed an investigation into whether there is an association between adverse health and an involvement in F-111 fuel tank deseal/reseal activities and, if so, the nature and strength of that association.

The current health status of those workers was compared with the health of groups of workers with similar backgrounds from Amberley and Richmond air bases.

Yield of literature review

Associations between exposure and health outcomes

Cancer
Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurone Disease and Other Neurological Examinations
Other Neurological Outcomes
Neuropsychology
Reproductive Health Effects
Other health effects
Health and the Manufacture and Maintenance of Aircraft

Measurement of exposure and outcomes

Bio-markers
Measurement of Neuropsychological Deficits

Summary of Results and Implications for General Health and Medical Study

Cancer
Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurone Disease and other Neurological Effects
Birth Defects
Neuropsychology
Other Health Effects
Biomarkers

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.468.8401&rep=rep1&type=pdf

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When the RAAF and the Australian Government discovered there was a chemical exposure problem and associated health problems amongst aircraft maintenance personnel they initiated some health studies one of which became known as SHOAMP. These studies are ongoing and report every 4 years to the best of our knowledge.

Australia does have a Department of Veteran Affairs and operates schemes whereby medical & financial support are in place to support RAAF personnel affected by the F1-11 Deseal / Reseal program.

These schemes are far from perfect and are a cause of ongoing stress amongst Australian survivors but obviously preferable to Ireland where Irish Air Corps sick personnel have to risk their home to take the the state to court while our compassionate medically qualified Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar recently refused medical help for Air Corps personnel in the Irish parliament and goaded sick survivors to sue.

Any person who served in the Irish Army Air Corps needs to read the above document which is the 2003 SHOAMP report. Unfortunately many links on the Australian DVA website are down. As we find newer SHOAMP reports we will make them available.

Trichloroethylene effects on the human body

Illnesses linked to Trichloroethylene (TCE)

Illnesses linked to Trichloroethylene (TCE) aka TRIKE

https://www.healthandenvironment.org/our-work/toxicant-and-disease-database/?showcategory=&showdisease=&showcontaminant=2341&showcas=&showkeyword=

Navy (New Zealand) veteran’s landmark compensation deal has others with Parkinson’s fearing trichloroethylene

Hundreds of New Zealanders may have been affected by a toxic chemical in a wide range of workplaces, a Weekend Herald investigation has found.

The discovery follows a landmark compensation pay-out to a New Zealand navy veteran who proved links between exposure to the solvent during his military service and his Parkinson’s disease.

The Herald reported last month that Veterans Affairs has provided the ex-serviceman with an entitlement to disability compensation for Parkinson’s, a condition attributed to his exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) while degreasing and cleaning electronics on a Royal New Zealand Navy ship during the 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency.

The Weekend Herald has since tracked down other men who fear their handling of TCE in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s could have caused their debilitating diseases and who now want to pursue their own compensation cases.

A former New Zealand Post Office telephone exchange technician, a naval dockyards apprentice and an aircraft engineer have all spoken about using TCE in their workplaces for years, without any health and safety precautions.

None of them used gloves or breathing apparatus while being exposed to the potent halocarbon that was popular across an array of sectors and workplaces in New Zealand, including garages, railway and aircraft workshops, and other depots.

“Trichlo was strong enough to bowl you over,” said 65-year-old Steve Walker, an ex-New Zealand Post Office employee at the Balclutha exchange, who now struggles with Parkinson’s. “It seeped into your skin, into your clothes. It took over you completely.”

Dave Schafer, a 58-year-old who used TCE weekly while cleaning instruments on Navy frigates during a five-year apprenticeship at the Devonport naval base, said: “Holy cow, that stuff was powerful. But as apprentices you kept your mouth shut and did your job, you didn’t rock the boat.”

Parkinson’s New Zealand, the Returned and Services’ Association (RSA), and those spoken to by the Weekend Herald, all believe there will be many more New Zealanders – hundreds if not thousands – who have been exposed to TCE over the years.

“Researchers have suggested there could be a significant lag time between exposure to TCE and the onset of Parkinson’s,” said Parkinson’s New Zealand chief executive Deirdre O’Sullivan.

“As such, we have reason to believe there could be many more serving and/or ex-serving NZDF people in a similar situation to this veteran.”

The potentially precedent-setting Navy veteran’s decision was made on appeal to the independent Veterans’ Entitlements Appeal Board, which considered appeals against decisions made under the War Pensions Act 1954.

It was made possible by ground-breaking international research including a major 2011 study on TCE exposure that concluded it was likely to result in a sixfold increase in the chances of developing Parkinson’s.

Read more on the New Zealand Herald’s website

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11951229

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Interesting that the New Zealand Herald article discusses exposure in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. No mention of the 1990s onwards obviously because the industries there using the chemical copped on in the 1990’s.

Unfortunately the Irish Air Corps was still exposing personnel to Trike, (without protection) in ERF / Avionics in the 1990s and well into the first decade of this century and likely elsewhere in Baldonnel & Gormanston

DELAY – DENY – DIE

Parkinson’s Disease Risk Greater in Those Exposed to Trichloroethylene

Symptoms of Disease May Appear 10 to 40 Years Following Exposure

A novel study in twins found that exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE)—a hazardous organic contaminant found in soil, groundwater, and air—is significantly associated with increased risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Possibility of developing this neurodegenerative disease is also linked to perchloroethylene (PERC) and carbon tetrachloride (CCI4) exposure according to the study appearing today in Annals of Neurology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) estimates that as many as 500,000 Americans have PD and more than 50,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. While there is much debate regarding cause of PD, studies suggest that genetic and environmental factors likely trigger the disease which is characterized by symptoms such as limb tremors, slowed movement, muscle stiffness, and speech impairment. Several studies have reported that exposure to solvents may increase risk of PD, but research assessing specific agents is limited.

The current epidemiological study, led by Drs. Samuel Goldman and Caroline Tanner with The Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale, California, investigated exposure to TCE, PERC and CCI4 and risk of developing PD. The team interviewed 99 twin pairs from the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council World War II Veteran Twins Cohort in which one twin had PD and one didn’t, inquiring about lifetime occupations and hobbies. Lifetime exposures to six specific solvents previously linked to PD in medical literature—n-hexane, xylene, toluene, CCl4, TCE and PERC—were inferred for each job or hobby.

The findings are the first to report a significant association between TCE exposure and PD—a more than 6-fold increased risk. Researchers also found that exposure to PERC and CCI4 tended toward significant risk of developing the disease. “Our study confirms that common environmental contaminants may increase the risk of developing PD, which has considerable public health implications,” commented Dr. Goldman.