Broad exposure screening of air pollutants in the occupational environment of Swedish soldiers deployed in Afghanistan

The main objective of this study was to perform an initial characterization of Swedish soldiers' exposure to air pollutants in Afghanistan and screen for potential health hazards. Stationary monitoring was performed in two military camps, International Security Assistance Force Headquarters in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Military medicine 2012-03, Vol.177 (3), p.318-325
Main Authors: Magnusson, Roger, Hägglund, Lars, Wingfors, Håkan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Afghan Campaign 2001
Air Pollutants - analysis
Air Pollutants, Occupational - analysis
Air pollution
Armed forces
Health hazards
Heavy metals
Humans
Military Medicine
Military Personnel
Nitrogen dioxide
Occupational Exposure
Occupational Health
Outdoor air quality
Pollutants
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Risk Assessment
Sweden
VOCs
Volatile organic compounds
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The main objective of this study was to perform an initial characterization of Swedish soldiers' exposure to air pollutants in Afghanistan and screen for potential health hazards. Stationary monitoring was performed in two military camps, International Security Assistance Force Headquarters in Kabul and Camp Northern Lights in Mazar-e Sharif, at both outdoor and indoor locations. A broad screening including particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), oxygenated PAHs, n-alkanes, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide, toxic metals, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was performed over 2 weeks in the autumn of 2009. The results were compared to current air quality guidelines. Particulate matter was identified as the main potential health hazard since military exposure guidelines for marginal effects were exceeded outdoors. In addition, especially in Kabul, levels of particle-bound PAHs and oxy-PAHs were high, whereas levels of toxic metals were generally low. Among gaseous pollutants, elevated NO2 levels in Kabul supported combustion as a major contributor to the poor air quality. VOC levels were generally low, but levels of some pollutants exceeded current guidelines. Because of elevated concentrations of particles with a high content of toxic organics, further monitoring and characterization of the occupational environment are warranted.
ISSN:0026-4075
1930-613X
DOI:10.7205/MILMED-D-11-00299