Burn pit

Service member disposing of uniforms.[1] Military uniform items turned in must be burned to ensure they cannot be used by opposing forces.

A burn pit is an area of a United States military base in which waste is disposed of by burning.

According to the United States Army field manual, there are four other ways outside of burn pits to dispose of nonhazardous solid waste: incinerators, burial, landfills, and tactical burial.[2] Open-air burning is a way to dispose of waste, but increases risk of fire and produces noxious fumes.[3] Due to modern waste in deployed environments, there is plastic (including water bottles), shipping materials, electronic waste, and other material that may emit toxic aerial compounds. Burn pits were heavily criticized and resulted in lawsuits by veterans, Department of Defense civilians, and military contractors. Global environmental consciousness has especially criticized these instances of large-scale burn pit operation.[4] The effects of burn pits seem to be similar to that of fire debris cleanup.[5]

The Department of Defense estimates that 3.5 million service members were exposed to burn pits. The Department of Veterans Affairs has granted about 73% of veterans’ burn pit claims related to asthma, sinusitis and rhinitis.[6]

  1. ^ Rempfer, Kyle (February 20, 2018). "Burn pits downrange caused lung disease in service members, court rules". Military Times. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  2. ^ United States Army Medical Department Center and School (May 6, 2015). Field Hygiene and Sanitation (PDF). Training Circular No. 4-02.3. United States Department of the Army. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  3. ^ Institute of Medicine (2011). Long-Term Health Consequences of Exposure to Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vol. 180. The National Academies Press. pp. 601–603. doi:10.17226/13209. ISBN 978-0-309-21755-2. PMID 26032372. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2024. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  4. ^ "Airborne Hazards and Burn Pit Exposures - Public Health". United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  5. ^ Naeher, Luke P.; Brauer, Michael; Lipsett, Michael; Zelikoff, Judith T.; Simpson, Christopher D.; Koenig, Jane Q.; Smith, Kirk R. (January 2007). "Woodsmoke Health Effects: A Review". Inhalation Toxicology. 19 (1): 67–106. Bibcode:2007InhTx..19...67N. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.511.1424. doi:10.1080/08958370600985875. ISSN 0895-8378. PMID 17127644. S2CID 7394043.
  6. ^ Helmore, Edward (March 13, 2022). "Toxic burn pits put the health of US veterans at risk. Can a new law help?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2024.