In recent months, thousands of people have returned home in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, where they have faced threats of unplodced prescriptions and lack of access to water, food and safe shelter. Many have been forced to manage war debris, which can present long -term health risks.
Our new research in Faujah, Iraq, published today by the Coss of War project at Brown University reveal how dangerous these debris can be. Two decades after the invasion led by the United States and almost a decade after the city’s occupation by the Islamic State, the lasting effects of the war are still obvious.
The bone fluorescence bone sampling of our team detected uranium in the bones of 29% of participants in the study in Faltujah, while lead was detected in 100% of them. The lead levels were 600% higher than the medium-sized age populations in the United States. Healthy adults should not have uranium present in the bone, so any presence is important.
Heavy metals such as lead and uranium can cause serious undesirable effects in neurodevelopment, general neurological health, cardiovascular health and birth results.
When the Islamic State occupied it in 2014, one of our participants in the Reina study (not its real name) and its young family managed to flee north until the relative security of the Kurdistan region in Iraq. While they were absent, Islamic State fighters used their house to store weapons. Iraqi and American war planes then bombed the entire neighborhood, damaging the family’s house.
After their return to their home two years later, and during the first trimester of her pregnancy, Reina lit up the rubble alone alone – all the time breathing a toxic mixture of concrete dust, remains of ammunition and burnt fragments from the inside of her house.
Her son was born in 2017 with a congenital anomaly. Reina and her family – Among thousands of residents returning from Falutujah – faced the delayed health risks triggered by post -war cleaning activities. Although she has fully restored her house, Reina remains concerned: “I cannot say if the house always makes us sick,” she told us.
His concerns are well founded. More bombed areas in Faludah still have higher levels of heavy metals in the soil than other areas. But the bombing was not the only source of toxicity threatening the Iraqis.
While the American army resulted in its presence in Iraq, it burned huge amounts of military equipment and weapons in so -called burning pits, which produced toxic smoke which spread to nearby population centers. It was well documented that these burns fits caused serious health problems among the American veterans who were just a short -term exhibition.
The story of Reina, and thousands of others like hers, contain important lessons for returnees to Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
A key observation of our recent study, led by doctors Samira Alaani and Abdulqader Alrawi in Faujah and led by Kali Rubaii at Purdue University, is that those who have first been returned and repanished in the areas damaged by war can be a higher risk of reproductive health.
Children of men and women who have been immersed in post-war cleaning activities can have a higher rate of certain congenital anomalies and poorer birth results than children of those who returned later or who did not participate directly in reconstruction. This is probably due to the fact that their parents were exposed by inhalation to toxins from detonated ammunition, incinerated materials, dioxins and other forms of dust at a much higher rate than those returned after the restoration of buildings.
The increase in the need of birth anomalies has been attributed to exposure to weapons of war, just like other similar peaks, for example, cancers and respiratory diseases.
A second observation is that, in the process of being moved, back and recovery of households, families face nutritional gaps that can worsen health risks, even for the next generation. The post-war cleaning often puts malnutrition bodies in contact with a myriad of harmful materials; A decrease in the contribution of key nutrients can undermine the body’s ability to deal with toxins and intensify reproductive health risks.
For example, during the first trimester of pregnancy, an insufficient folate intake can cause neuronal tube defects in the fetus. War debris contains heavy metals that can also disturb folate roads in pregnant women.
These models that we have observed in the public health of Faltujah will probably occur in other highly bombed cities, where returnees will bear the double burden of military violence: not only have they undergone death, dismemberment, displacement and dispossession, but they are also likely to undergo intergenerational health effects.
Admittedly, the most effective way to limit the toxicity of the heavy metals of the war is not to bomb cities in the first place. But when this happens, there are measures that can be taken to limit the effects of health made up of toxic exposure.
First, populations in war areas should not be deprived of adequate nutrition and safe drinking water.
Secondly, international NGOs, health establishments, local clinics and regional radio points should disseminate information on the direct measures that people can take to protect their own health when they return home.
For example, it is essential that the returned carry a mask or a scarf to limit the inhalation of fine particles during cleaning and reconstruction activities. Burial rather than the combustion of waste can also reduce generalized exposure to toxins. And when pregnant or seek to design, women should avoid participating in cleaning and reconstruction activities producing dust.
In addition, vitamins C and D in food or supplements can limit both the absorption and release of heavy metals accumulated in its bones. Women in the first quarter of pregnancy – or seek to design – should have priority in their consumption of food rich in folate – such as spinach, broccoli, fortified rice and enriched wheat – or supplements of folic acid (AKA Vitamin B9) when they can be found.
These are some of the ways – although limited – to mitigate the continuous damage of post -war exhibitions to better protect future generations.
Meanwhile, our collective and active effort to prevent military bombing remains the most effective means of protecting communities against the exhibitions induced by the war with short and long -term health damage.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.
