Documentation for the Survey of Pesticide Use During the Gulf War: The Survey Instrument (Gulf War Illnesses Series.)

This report reproduces (1) advance materials sent to 2,005 Gulf War veterans as part of a survey investigating the use of pesticides during Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and (2) the survey used by the telephone interviewers. Respondents statistically represented the U.S. military population in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations between August 1990 and July 1991. Survey results, reported in MR-1018/12-OSD, Pesticide Use During the Gulf War: A Survey of Gulf War Veterans, characterized pesticide use by U.S. service members, including personal and field use of pesticides, as well as observed pesticide use by others. Information was obtained for living, working, and eating areas for a randomly chosen month of deployment. Results show that the majority of personnel were exposed to some pesticides, and there were differences in use by service: small differences by season and by rank and larger differences by living arrangements. Possible cases of misuse of some pesticides were identified. However, with the exception of the use of flea collars, these cases could also be attributed to incorrect pesticide identification. The researchers found no evidence of widespread misuse of field pesticides.Elaine Reardon is the author of 'Documentation for the Survey of Pesticide Use During the Gulf War: The Survey Instrument (Gulf War Illnesses Series.)', published 2001 under ISBN 9780833029003 and ISBN 0833029002.