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Could Utah's high rate of multiple sclerosis - a disease of the
nervous system possibly connected to viral infections - be caused by
decades of Army testing of germ, nerve gas and radiological weapons
there?
Researchers for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society are beginning
to try to answer that question - but they warn studies may take years,
and that shaky finances might prevent completion.
They also say an extensive Deseret News list last week of all such
tests revealed so far by years of digging helps the research, but that
access to other still-classified data possibly showing the full extent
of all testing would likely be needed.
Meanwhile, other groups are also considering beginning projects to
study anecdotal evidence suggesting that Cold War tests may also have
caused higher cancer rates in northern Utah or exotic diseases among
workers at Dugway Proving Ground.
MS in Tooele
Joyce Stromberg, a Tooele resident who says her daughter was among the
youngest people ever diagnosed with MS at age 15, is a volunteer
project coordinator with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society,
which is gathering data about residents of Tooele County (where most
Army tests were conducted) who have the disease.
"A study by the University of Utah found the rate of MS in Tooele
County is seven times higher than the national average," she said.
"The overall rate for Utah is twice the national average."
The neurologist at the university who she says discovered those high
rates declined several interview requests.
Stromberg said she can't help but think the military testing is
somehow related to the high incidence of MS. "I have questions about
why all this is happening here. Obviously, the fact those tests
happened here makes you wonder. Seeing the long list of them in the
paper makes me really wonder."
The Deseret News showed last week that so far, 328 open-air germ
warfare tests are known to have occurred at Dugway; 1,174 open-air
tests of chemical arms, mostly nerve gas; 74 tests of arms that spread
radioactive particles to the wind; eight intentional nuclear reactor
meltdowns; and assorted other tests and accidents.
On top of that, 141 nuclear bomb tests in Nevada spread radiation
toward Utah - as did several tests of nuclear-powered rockets that
spewed radioactive exhaust.
Early study begins
Dr. Mathilde Solowey, a volunteer epidemiologist at the New York City
headquarters of the MS society, said Utah is one of several places
nationally that it is collecting data where some MS victims question
whether the disease might be tied to environmental causes.
She said, however, that the research is only in its earliest stages -
such as collecting names of people with MS, when they were diagnosed,
where they lived and what substances to which they may have been
exposed.
"It may allow a future researcher to uncover a causative agent," she
said. For example, she said a future scientist might find that "some
type of radiation from the Army tests was also found in another area
with a high incidence of MS."
Obstacles loom
Solowey said answering such questions is years away - if it is ever
accomplished - and that it faces many obstacles.
First, it is currently being conducted almost entirely by volunteers
for lack of funding. "For a true cluster study, we need the
cooperation of a neuroepidemiologist" - and the required work and
verification of diagnoses is expensive and time-consuming.
Solowey has been unable to find a qualified volunteer, and said the MS
society has chosen to spend most of its research money on other areas
that promise more immediate benefits - such as studying possible
treatments or looking into more popular theories about what causes MS.
Another problem is finding a firm list of all agents used in Dugway
and related tests. While many have been revealed, she suspects others
have yet to be uncovered.
Solowey said, "I used to work at Fort Detrick (a Maryland Army base
that cooperated with Dugway with many of its germ and chemical tests)
. . .. I suspect many tests have been kept under wraps because in
hindsight they looked stupid, even if they sounded like good ideas at
the time."
While the exact cause of MS is unknown, she said the most popular
theory is that it may be caused by exposure during adolescence to a
viral infection - such as measles. The infection then may lie dormant,
usually until midlife, when it causes scarring around nerves, leading
to paralysis and other problems.
Of note, the Dugway tests involved some of the deadliest germs known
to man including: the plaque, anthrax, botulism, brucellosis,
tularemia, Q fever and parrot fever. They also involved nerve gas,
which directly attacks the nervous system.
Other probes, too
The MS society is not the only one wondering about the Utah Cold War
tests. The activist group Downwinders is considering also beginning
studies about whether they may have created higher rates of cancer in
northern Utah, and a group of sick ex-workers at Dugway is questioning
whether tests created their problems.
Downwinders President Preston J. Truman said, "We're starting to get a
lot of calls from people in Tooele County and nearby areas about
cancer - the same sort of stuff we used to get from people in southern
Utah."
Studies about cancer in southern Utah led Congress to finally
determine that nuclear tests in Nevada likely caused cancer there.
Congress apologized and made available some compensation payments to
some victims.
Truman said, "We're looking at maybe starting to pass out health
questionnaires and do some of the other things we used to do in
southern Utah. We'll begin in Tooele County, because it was nearest to
the tests, and we've had most calls from there."
Former state Rep. Beverly White, D-Tooele, also said she is work with
a group of retired Dugway workers who suffer from a variety of
debilitating diseases that they suspect was caused by their work at
the base.
"Many of them were given shots, and never knew what they were," she
said. She said they are trying to come up with lists of other former
employees to see if they suffer from similar diseases, and what tests
or hazardous substances around which they may have worked.
She said the group is considering going to court to seek more
information and compensation. "The list you published helps provides
the dates and types of tests, which we need to be successful."
White said she also hopes for broader studies of problems in Tooele.
For example, she said she knows of one two-block area in town where 14
cases of MS occurred - and has seen anecdotal evidence that cancer
rates in the southwest corner of Tooele City seem higher than normal.
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