Health Problems from Dugway Service

I am particularly trying to locate civilians and military who have similar health problems. I currently have a very unique medical problem involving CS, o-chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile or o-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, the commonly used tear gas and hope someone can help me. I have very severe chronic rhinitis, which I believe was caused by repeated exposures to CS. I believe I have suffered from what is now known as RUDS (Reactive Upper-Airways Dysfunction Syndrome) for over 25 years. I have gone from civilian doctor to civilian doctor and had years of treatment for allergies without any effect. I have never seen a doctor who has the slightest idea what CS is, let alone experience in treating people exposed to CS or similar agents. I have also had cancer!

I now am turning to medical and health personnel in the government in hopes of finding a doctor who has experience with CS and who can perhaps help me. (I believe that only a doctor who was in the military or VA would have that experience.)

In 1968 I was drafted into the Army. Since I had a degree in chemistry I was sent to Dugway Proving Grounds, Dugway, Utah to work on open-air chemical weapons testing. I worked with all the nerve agents, GA, GB, GD, and VX, and with CS riot agent from 1968 to 1970. Although I was in the Army I worked under civilian control.

I did a great deal of work with CS and had multiple exposures to that chemical. In fact, exposures occurred daily. By exposure I mean had direct contact with CS. I started to cry, sneeze and had to stop work for about 10 to 15 minutes. Since we also worked with nerve agents daily we did not consider CS to be a serious agent, i.e., it did not kill you immediately. We were not careful with CS and there was a rush on CS testing because the weapons were to be used in Viet Nam.

I worked in an industrial lab. During open air testing thousands of samplers were placed out in desert and a weapon was exploded. The samplers would collect the resulting dispersed agent. After adding a solvent we analyzed each sampler photometrically to determine the amount of agent collected. With CS the sampler was a simple open jar. I often was exposed unloading and opening the jars. I also made standards for use in the tests. Again, the lab processed thousands of samples each week.

Another job involved loading bomblets with CS. I did this in a small wooden shack removed from the lab. This job required me to weigh and load kilograms of CS into various dispersing devices. I wore protective clothing however I was not allowed back into the lab. I had so much CS on my clothing that if I even entered a door everyone in the laboratory would be effected. When I changed clothes I was hit with CS and basically incapacitated for the rest of the day.

While in the Army I developed sinus problems and hay fever, which I dealt with using antihistamines. Later after I left the Army my problems became very, very severe. I sought medical help but the treatments I was given produced no results during the 1970s. The doctors I talked to have not heard of CS and gave me standard allergy treatments. In 1980 I filed a claim with the VA but when I did not hear from them I again sought private treatment and received three more years of allergy shots. I just got my C-file. In contains absolutely nothing on what I did at Dugway or the medical treatment I received at the laboratory.

In 1983 my treatment was interrupted by testicular cancer, a retroperitonial germ cell carcinoma. I suspect that this cancer may have been related to my work in the Army but I can find no studies, which support any claim that exposures to nerve agents or CS or any of the other chemicals cause cancer. Anyway I was lucky to get a cancer that has a very high cure rate although the chemotherapy for testicular cancer was something else. The nerve agents were GA or tabun, o-ethyl dimethylamidophosphoryl cynide; GB or sarin, isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate; GD or soman, pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate and VX, o-ethyl 5-diisopropylaminomethy phosphonothiolate.

Although what I am suffering from is not technically RUDS (Reactive Upper-airways Dysfunctional Syndrome), it is very, very similar. I did not have one exposure I had multiple exposures. I have suffered daily for over 25 years. No medical treatment ends the problem; pills temporally stop the very severe symptoms. Thank you for bearing up with my story. I do not think there are many cases of multiply exposures to CS out there. For most people one exposure is enough.

If you know of anyone who can offer some help please let me know.