Appendix B
Statement of Task of the Committee for Review of the Department of Defense’s Enhanced Particulate Matter Surveillance Program Report
An ad hoc study committee under the oversight of the Standing Committee on Toxicology will review the DOD’s Enhanced Particulate Matter Surveillance Program Report, which is a public report issued in February 2008 that includes an analysis of the concentration and composition of particulate matter at fifteen sites in the Central Command Area of Operations. The study committee's assessment will include a review of the report's approaches for sampling and analysis, site-specific differences in particulate matter concentrations, and the potential acute and chronic health implications for deployed personnel on the basis of the report's information on particle sizes, mass, and chemical composition. The review will also include consideration of epidemiologic investigations and health surveillance information collected by the Army on deployed personnel. On the basis of its review, the study committee will assess the potential health implications for personnel deployed in the Central Command Area and make recommendations for reducing or better characterizing health risk. Recommendations will also be made for improving ongoing epidemiological investigations or new ones that are possible within the limitations/constraints of the available outcome data and the restrictions imposed by deployment conditions.