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The Air Force Health Study is a 20-year comprehensive assessment of the current health of Air Force veterans of Operation Ranch Hand, the unit responsible for aerial spraying of herbicides in Vietnam. This report compares the noncombat mortality of 1261 Ranch Hand veterans to that of a comparison population of 19,101 other Air Force veterans primarily involved in cargo missions in Southeast Asia but who were not exposed to herbicides. The indirectly standardized all-cause death rate among Ranch Hands is 2.5 deaths per 1000 person-years, the same as that among comparison subjects. After adjustment for age, rank, and occupation, the all-cause standardized mortality ratio was 1.0. In adjusted cause-specific analyses, we found no significant group differences regarding accidental, malignant neoplasm, and circulatory deaths. These data are not supportive of a hypothesis of increased mortality among Ranch Hands.

The Air Force Health Study is a 20-year comprehensive assessment of the health of Air Force veterans of Operation Ranch Hand, the unit responsible for aerial spraying of herbicides in Vietnam. The study compares the health and noncombat mortality of Ranch Hand veterans with a comparison group of Air Force veterans primarily involved with cargo missions in Southeast Asia but who were not exposed to herbicides. This report summarizes the health of these veterans as determined at the third in a series of physical examinations. Nine hundred ninety-five Ranch Hands and 1299 comparison subjects attended the second follow-up examination in 1987. The two groups were similar in reported health problems, diagnosed skin conditions, and hepatic, cardiovascular, and immune profiles. Ranch Hands have experienced significantly more basal cell carcinomas than comparison subjects. The two groups were not different with respect to melanoma and systemic cancer.