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    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "1.68",
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      "body": "Hey, guys. It's Leah B here from Prestige Veteran Medical Consulting. I'm a US army veteran, physician assistant, and former CMP examiner. So a lot of veterans were told in one way or another that burn pit exposure was no big deal. But but the science has never really supported that that level of certainty."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
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      "body": "So what we do know is that burn pits release a complex mix of particulate matter, combustion byproducts, and toxic chemicals, and newer research continues to show links between longer burn pit exposure and increased risk of respiratory disease and some other chronic health problems. Today, I wanna break down what burn pits were, what veterans were actually breathing, and what the science currently says about long term health effects. So during operations in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and in a lot of other deployed environments, open air burn pits were commonly used to dispose of waste. That waste could include things like plastic, metals, rubber, paint, solvents, medical waste, munitions related materials, human waste, and other mixed types of trash, all burned in large areas, large open areas often with jet fuel used as an accelerant. That matters because when you burn mixed waste at relatively low and uncontrolled temperatures, you do not get clean combustion."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
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      "body": "You get a complex airborne mixture that can include fine particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, different hydrocarbons, dioxins, and other irritants, that are just toxic byproducts. Right? So from a medical and an environmental health standpoint, the concern was never just smoke. Right? The concern was what was in the smoke, how much of it veterans inhaled, and how close they were to to the smoke and how long they were exposed."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
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      "body": "So the strongest and most consistent scientific concern has been the respiratory system. K? There's other systems involved, but the respiratory system has been number one. And that makes sense biologically, right, because inhaled particles and combustion chemicals first contact the eyes, nose, throat, airways, and lungs. VA notes that exposure can cause acute symptoms like burning eyes, throat irritation, coughing, breathing difficulty, and skin irritation, especially with closer or longer exposure."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "142.47499",
      "endTime": "192.16501",
      "body": "Fine particulate matter is especially important here because very small particles can travel deep into the lungs and trigger inflammation. Depending on particle size and and composition, that exposure can aggravate the airways, worsen asthma, contribute to chronic bronchitis or bronchi bronchial symptoms, and potentially play a, like, a larger role in long term cardiopulmonary disease. This is also why some veterans do not just describe temporary irritation. Some describe a persistent change after deployment, like chronic cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, exercise intolerance, recurrent bronchitis, or asthma like symptoms that did not fully go away. Those patterns are consistent with the kinds of conditions researchers have been investigating in burn pit exposed populations."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
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      "body": "So one important thing to understand is that earlier science was sort of limited and and things just keep evolving. So a major February, Academy's report concluded that there was not enough high quality exposure data to definitively determine the long term health consequences of burn pit exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan. But that was not the same thing as proving that there was no long term effects. So it reflected major limitations in sampling exposure measurements and study design. This that distinction just really matters a lot because for years, veterans sometimes heard things like there's just no proof when the more accurate scientific statement was that the data was incomplete and that they were still trying to figure it out."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "238.28",
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      "body": "The, we and still we're trying to figure out and that it's just complicated. Service members were often exposed not only to burn pits, but also to desert dust, vehicle exhaust, industrial pollution, fires, other deployment related airborne hazards. So the early science did not, like, close the door. It just highlighted uncertainty and the need for better research. So as as that research has improved, like I mentioned, the the signal has become stronger, especially for respiratory disease."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
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      "body": "VA reported in 2024 that in a study of veterans with documented deployments to bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, every one hundred days of burn pit exposure was associated with a one percent increased risk of asthma, a four percent increased risk of COPD, and a five percent increased risk of ischemic stroke along with elevated risk of high blood pressure. That does not mean that burn pits are the sole cause of every condition in every veteran, but it does show that the longer exposure was associated with, the longer somebody was exposed, the, you know, the greater association there is with the these measurable increases in risk in large veteran populations. So more recent clinical reviews also note that that studies are increasingly demonstrating correlations between prolonged burn pit exposure and chronic airway disease even though the exact mechanism and degree of risk can vary by person and by exposure history. So scientifically, the conversation has shifted from is this even plausible to a much more developed discussion about which diseases are most strongly supported, how exposure intensity matters, and how to identify affected veterans earlier. So which long term health effects have the strongest support?"
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
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      "body": "So the best supported long term concerns are still, as I mentioned, respiratory, particularly chronic airway and lung problems. That includes things like asthma, chronic bronchitis type symptoms, and other chronic respiratory comp complications and complaints under active study and clinical evaluation. There's also concern about broader systemic effects because particulate pollution and combustion byproducts can often affect more than just the lungs. Emerging data has pointed towards possible cardiovascular risk, including associations with hypertension, ischemic stroke, and other other things. So cancer is a big one."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "383.875",
      "endTime": "410.97",
      "body": "That's a more complicated area scientifically because the biologic concern is just multifactorial. Right? So it's it's a real issue with burn pit smoke. It can really contain or did contain carcinogenic compounds. But proving long term latency, cancer causation in individuals is is just difficult because of mixed exposures, long timelines, confounding factors."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "411.745",
      "endTime": "447.385",
      "body": "That is one reason policy and presumptive frameworks have evolved alongside the science rather than just waiting to perfect certainty. So the most accurate summary is this. The science is strongest for respiratory harm, growing for some cardiometabolic and vascular outcomes, and still evolving in other areas. So not every deployed veteran have the same exposure. VA specifically notes that risk can can depend on things like proximity to burn pit, duration of exposure, number of deployments, and other presence, in the presence of other airborne hazards."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "448.345",
      "endTime": "468.11",
      "body": "So that means two veterans can both say they were around burn pits, but medically, those exposures may be very different. So some questions that really matter are gonna be things like how close were you sleeping or working to the pit? How often were you there? How long were you deployed? What kind of duties were you performing?"
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "468.495",
      "endTime": "493.01",
      "body": "Were there also sandstorms, diesel exhausts, or industrial pollutants in in that environment? Those details matter because exposure science is dose related. In general, the closer, longer, and more intense the exposure, the greater the concern for long term harm. So why does this matter for veterans today? This is exactly why burn pits became such a major issue in veterans' health policy."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "493.44498",
      "endTime": "541.98004",
      "body": "VA states that the PACT Act expanded health care and benefits, you know, related to burn pits and other toxic exposures, and VA continues to evaluate certain conditions in the context of airborne hazards exposure. So the airborne hazards and open burn pit registry was also created to help support research and improve understanding of the health challenges faced by exposed veterans and service members. From a medical standpoint, the key point is that veterans with persistent respiratory or other unexplained symptoms after deployment should not dismiss those symptoms just because the science used to be less developed. The evidence base is better than it was decades ago or a decade ago, and it continues to evolve. So burn pits were not just a nuisance type exposure."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "541.98004",
      "endTime": "580.245",
      "body": "They were a complex airborne toxic exposure involving smoke, particles, and combustion, and already combustion products and already harsh deployed environments. And while the science is still evolving, the evidence now much more clearly supports concern for long term health effects, especially the respiratory system. If you are a veteran dealing with chronic, cough, breathing issues, asthma, or other persistent symptoms after deployment, it is worth, taking that history seriously. And if you want more educational content breaking down the medical science behind toxic exposures and VA disability issues, please subscribe. Please like and subscribe."
    },
    {
      "speaker": "Leah Bucholz",
      "startTime": "580.245",
      "endTime": "589.84503",
      "body": "And as always, this content is for educational purposes only and is not legal or medical advice. Thank you for dropping by, and please drop some comments. Alright. See you."
    }
  ]
}