For Canadian veterans, the toxic legacy of burn pits lingers: advocate

globalnews.ca:

veterans long after they end their tour of duty and an emerging health concern is exposure to toxic burn pits.Retired Master Corporal Arjan Grewal, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, told The West Block host Mercedes Stephenson that burn pits were a common part of life on bases during his six tours of duty.“It’s a large bonfire, if you will, that is in the middle of a military base or a forward operating base. And it’s used to incinerate everything, and I mean everything; helicopter carcasses, batteries, human waste, ammunition, food waste,” Grewal explained.“Why burn pits are such a specific cause of toxic exposure is because it smolders.

It doesn’t incinerate at a high rate. It’s not plasma-fired and it doesn’t get rid of anything very fast.

And with the populations that exist on military bases, they’re often living around where those burn pits are placed.”Grewal describes burn pits as “a necessary evil” because bases are often set up in areas where there aren’t proper waste disposal facilities, and where establishing them could be a security risk.“So, burn pits are utilized often and a lot more so than just in a couple of these large forward operating bases,” he said.Now in his civilian life, Grewal is the CEO of Ventus Respiratory Technologies, a company that creates specialized personal protective equipment (PPE) – masks to protect military, law enforcement and first responders from toxic particulates they can be exposed to on the job.He’s also been advocating for research into how the health effects of burn pits are impacting Canadian soldiers and veterans years later.“We are some of the healthiest, fittest, most tracked population in Canada, and we’re still seeing a high rate of illness. So in terms of what