From Grist Email Magazine. Posted by Jack Eastman


DON'T GAG ME WITH A HEAVY METAL SPOON
Despite taking an oath of secrecy regarding their jobs, employees at
a nuclear weapons plant in Iowa will be allowed to talk to doctors
and scientists about hazardous chemicals to which they may have been
exposed, the Pentagon determined in a report issued yesterday.  The
oaths have posed problems for thousands of current or former
employees of the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant seeking medical care or
federal benefits, or attempting to take part in health studies.  From
the late 1940s to the mid-1970s, the plant assembled and test-fired
nuclear weapons components; it currently manufactures conventional
weapons.  Workers there may have been exposed to silica, beryllium,
solvents, explosives, epoxies, and heavy metals.  With the easing of
the rules, workers will be able to name the substances with which
they worked, but not discuss how each substance was used.  Sen. Tom
Harkin (D-Iowa) welcomed the change but called the Pentagon report
"woefully short on information about possible radioactive and toxic
exposures at the plant."

straight to the source:  San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press,
Todd Dvorak, 09 Sep 2002
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