Long-term health effects of exposure to sarin and other anticholinesterase chemical warfare agents

In a telephone survey of 4,022 military volunteers for a 1955-1975 program of experimental exposures to chemical agents at Edgewood, Maryland, the current health of those exposed to anticholinesterase agents was compared with that of men exposed to no active chemicals (no chemical test) and to two or more other types of chemical agents (other chemical tests). The survey posed questions about general health and about neurological and psychological deficits. There were only two statistically significant differences: volunteers in anticholinesterase agent tests reported fewer attention problems than those in other chemical tests and greater sleep disturbance than those in no chemical tests. In contrast, volunteers who reported exposure to civilian or military chemical agents outside of their participation in the Edgewood program reported many statistically significant adverse neurological and psychological effects, regardless of their experimental exposure. In this study, the health effects of self-reported, nonexperimental exposure, which are subject to recall bias, were greater than the health effects of experimental exposure.