§ Baroness Gould of Potternewtonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What information they have regarding the general pattern of chemical warfare agent alerts during the Gulf conflict. [HL3512]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)The Government's 1997 policy statementGulf Veterans' Illnesses: A New Beginning set out a number of commitments to help address the health concerns of Gulf veterans. One of these commitments was to review specific incidents of suggested biological or chemcial warfare exposures. As part of this commitment, my honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces is today publishing the third paper looking at incidents where veterans have suggested they were exposed to chemical warfare agents. This paper is entitled A Review of UK Forces Chemical Warfare Agent Alerts during the 1990–1991 Gulf Conflict. We are placing a copy in the Library of the House.
This paper looks at the general pattern of chemical alarms during the conflict. The review has shown that there was usually a straightforward explanation given at the time for chemical warfare agent detection equipment alarming. There is no evidence to suggest Iraqi use of chemical weapons or the presence of chemical weapons in any of the UK alarms.
The paper reviews in detail two specific incidents: Dhahran on the night of the 20 January 1991 when a SCUD was destroyed by a Patriot missile close to the
108WA
Deaths to UK Gulf veterans (Note: 1) April 1991–30 June 2000 Causes (coded to ICD-9) (Note: 2) ICD Chapter Cause of death Gulf Era Mortality Ratio All deaths 452 439 1.03 All cause coded deaths 445 429 1.04 Disease-related causes 156 190 0.82 i Infectious and parasitic diseases 3 2 1.50 ii Cancers 64 68 0.94 iii Endocrine and immune disorders 1 4 0.25 V Mental disorders 8 11 0.73 vi Diseases of the nervous system and sense organs 7 4 1.75 vii Diseases of the circulatory system 57 76 0.75 viii Diseases of the respiratory system 7 4 1.75 ix Diseases of the digestive system 6 11 0.55 iv, x-xvi All other disease-related causes 3 10 0.30 EXVII External causes of injury and poisoning 289 239 1.21 Railway accidents 4 1 4.00 Motor vehicle accidents 103 80 1.29 Water transport accidents 3 1 3.00 Air and space accidents 25 16 1.56 Other vehicle accidents 0 2 0.00 Accidental poisoning 9 12 0.75 Accidental falls 7 6 1.17 Accidents due to fire/flames 0 1 0.00 Accidents due to natural environmental factors 2 2 1.00 Accidents due to submersion/suffocation/foreign bodies 15 6 2.50 Other accidents 31 24 1.29 airfield there and Al Jubayl on the morning of 16 February 1991 when a SCUD landed in the water in the port area. On both occasions there is no evidence to suggest that the SCUDs carried anything other than a conventional warhead.