Researchers Find Chemical Mix Used in Gulf War Can Be Toxic

Doses of three chemicals used to protect Gulf War soldiers from nerve gas and insects are harmless alone but mixed together can cause neurological problems in animals, Duke University researchers reported Tuesday.

The nerve-gas pill reduces the body’s normal ability to cleanse itself of the two insecticides so they have time to infiltrate the brain, said Dr. Mohamed Abou-Donia, who presented his findings to veterans and defense officials.

The Pentagon says it has no evidence of a new mystery disease causing the headaches, fatigue, memory loss and other symptoms reported by tens of thousands of Gulf War veterans. It attributes most symptoms to known illnesses.

“We haven’t ruled in or ruled out the possibility that combinations of chemicals could indeed explain some of the illnesses of Persian Gulf veterans,” said Veterans Affairs Department spokesman Terry Jemison.

But he declined to comment on Abou-Donia’s findings, saying Veterans Affairs officials wanted to thoroughly review his research when it is published in next month’s Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health.

“That’s an interesting report,” Navy Capt. Michael Doubleday said at a Pentagon briefing Tuesday, but he added that Defense Department experts also had not yet analyzed it.

Abou-Donia acknowledges his study in chickens, whose neurological pathways are similar to those in humans, does not prove the chemical cocktail hurts people.

But his partners at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center did epidemiological studies on soldiers that are consistent with the animal data, Abou-Donia said. Texas scientists declined to release the results until their research is published later this year.

Now Abou-Donia wants funding to analyze the blood of 100 veterans for signs that they were susceptible to this chemical poisoning. The Duke-Texas research has exhausted $250,000 from Texas billionaire Ross Perot, a longtime supporter of veterans.

“The Army has essentially eliminated any other possibility,” Abou-Donia said. “We’re not saying this is Gulf War syndrome, but we’re saying this deserves a look.”