TRI-SERVICE COOPERATION ON TOXICOLOGY PROBLEMS
Colonel Lee B. Grant, USAF, MC
Headquarters Air Force Logistics Command.
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
I would like to review with you this morning some of the highlights in the Air Force Toxicology and Environmental Health Program during the past 3 years - my tenure In the SGO.
Late in 1959 Dr. Frank. Princi from the University of Cincinnati was the Chairman of a committee appointed by the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board to investigate the Air Force Toxicological. Program. This committee found division of responsibility and lack of coordination between major commands in the development and application of environmental control of health hazards associated with Air Force weapons systems.
Insufficient effort was being made to obtain environmental health data from the civilian contractors of tit. weapon system. Also Insufficient. effort was being made to obtain and use environmental health data from Weapon Systems test programs at Cape Canaveral, Edwards and Vandenberg Air Force Bases.
The Toxic Hazards Section of the Aeromed Laboratory was attempting to develop toxicological data on the more promising military chemicals but in-house facilities were very limited and dollars for contract work was insufficient to keep abreast of the problem.
The Medical Laboratory of the Chemical. Corps at Army Chemical Center had a Military Chemicals Program into which the 3 services were putting money for specific toxicological projects. Up to this time money for the Chemical Warfare Program had been severely limited and the laboratory was eager to get the business provided by the Military Chemical Program.
In early 1960 the Department of Defense decided to unify the 3 services toxicology programs and made the Medical Laboratory at ACC responsible for either performing in-house or letting and monitoring contracts for all toxicological investigations. Funding for this program was to be from DOD, This was the birth of Project Tons. The DOD Tores directive was so all inclusive that the role of the Toxic Hazards Section of the Aeromed Laboratory for a while was in doubt. However, later interpretations of the directive limited the work to be done under Project Tores as only that toxicology which was of interest to all 3 services. Project Tores was short lived. Its demise was initiated In early 1962 when DOD requested the Army to take over management responsibility for the project. For several reasons the Army was reluctant to accept the responsibility. The reasons included (1) the Army Chemical Corps had received a whopping large appropriation
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for a BW/CW program and the Medical Laboratory of the Chemical Corps could no longer spare manpower or facilities for Project Tores; (2) Most of the dollar requirements for Project Tores were for Air Force requested work.
The Air Force advised both DOD and the Army that if it was DOD’s desire to continue Project Tores the Air Force would accept management responsibility. However, the Army recommended that Project Tores be discontinued and each service again assume responsibility for its own Toxicology Program. This position was accepted by DOD with the stipulation that the work initiated under Project Tores be completed using DOD Funds and that a tn-service committee including Dr. Harry’ Hayes, Director of the Advisory Center on Toxicology of the NRC,. monitor the work of the services to prevent duplication and to facilitate dissemination of information developed by the individual services. It is interesting to note that all of the work initiated by Project Tores is now being monitored by the Air Force. This is at the request of the Army and the Navy who recognized that the work was of primary Interest to the Air Force.
Following Dr. Princi’s study of the Air Force Toxicology Program another significant event occurred with which you are all familiar - which had an important effect on the Environmental Health Program of the Air Force the reorganization .of AMC and ABDC into AFLC and AFSC. Pertinent to Dr. Princi’s criticism the development and application of environmental control of health hazards associated with weapon systems became the responsibility of just one command rather than being split between two as before. This command was AFSC. It was recognized that reorganization within AFSC and greater efforts to utilize the environmental health talents of AFLC would be required to successfully meet these new responsibilities. Considerable efforts have been devoted to insure that all possible environmental health data is. obtained from civilian contractors of weapons systems and from weapon system test programs at Cape Canaveral, Edwards and Vandenberg Air Force Bases. A continuing effort has been directed toward using this data to develop adequate medical and environmental controls of potential health hazards associated with Air Force weapon systems.
A number of examples come to mind of steps taken or to be taken~ (1) Requirements are now routinely written into, contracts with weapon systems contractors to provide environmental health data which they have developed;
(2) The Medical Service Staff within AFSC has and will further be beefed -up with knowledgeable physicians and sanitary and industrial hygiene engineer~
(3) The Regional Environmental Health Laboratories are ever more performing environmental hazard evaluations at weapon systems test sites. The staffs of these laboratories are being augmented to meet the increasing demands for their services; (4) The budget of the Toxic Hazards Section of the Aerospace Medical Laboratory is continually being expanded.
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Lastly and possibly most significant. are the efforts being taken to use and disseminate the Environment Health data being accumulated. The recent AFSC publication of the Medical Aspects of Titan U. is solid progressing this direction.
As is the formation of the Inter- Command Coordinating Committee on Missile and Space Medical Support items and the publication of the Toxicology News
Letter by Headquarters AFSC, the Annual Sanitary and Industrial Hygiene Symposium provides an ideal means of communicating the latest information on environmental health data being developed within the Air Force. The need for this forum is well recognized and will perpetuate future successful meeting of the group.