WVU researchers sift through the smoke to see how burn pits make veterans ill

A campfire burns wood, but according to West Virginia University School of Medicine researcher Timothy Nurkiewicz, burn pits can consume things like batteries, bullets, jet fuel, surgical waste and human waste.

Nurkiewicz, chair of the West Virginia University Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, is studying how inhaling emissions from these burning and smoldering materials could lead to serious health problems in military veterans. He and his team are using a special stove in WVU’s Inhalation Facility to safely re-create the conditions of burn pit exposure and study their health effects.

The project is a collaboration with the National Guard, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs and Northwestern University.