Association of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) with Solvent and Chemical Exposure During Military Deployment (P4.138)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate associations between ALS and 11 solvent/chemical exposures during military deployment. BACKGROUND: U.S. military veterans, particularly those deployed to the Persian Gulf War, may have a higher rate of ALS than non-veterans. Though no specific factors explaining this increase have been identified, chemical exposures are common in the military, and general population studies suggest an association between ALS and solvent/chemical exposures. DESIGN/METHODS: We used information from GENEVA, a case-control study of ALS in veterans. Cases were neurologist-confirmed; controls were frequency-matched on age at diagnosis/interview and use of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care before diagnosis/interview. Exposure information was collected from veterans deployed to combat theaters during World War II or the Korean, Vietnam, or Persian Gulf Wars (234 cases, 347 controls). RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounders, ALS was positively associated with mixing/applying (OR=3.7; 95[percnt] CI: 1.3, 9.9) and field exposure (OR=1.7; 95[percnt] CI: 1.0, 3.1) to burning agents. These associations became stronger after restricting analyses to Vietnam veterans or cases enrolled within two years of diagnosis. No other exposure evaluated was consistently associated with ALS. CONCLUSIONS: The positive association between ALS and burning agents suggests a possible contributor to the apparently elevated rate in veterans, an important finding given the large number of veterans and high fatality rate of ALS. Study Supported by: This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Z01-ES-049005), grants from the NIEHS (R01-ES13244, T32ES007018) and the CDC, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (T42OH00867302). The National Registry of Veterans with ALS was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (CSP #500A). The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. Disclosure: Dr. Beard has nothing to disclose. Dr. Umbach has nothing to disclose. Dr. Allen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Keller has received personal compensation for activities with Westat Inc. Dr. Sandler has nothing to disclose. Dr. Schmidt has nothing to disclose. Dr. Engel has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kamel has nothing to disclose.