The 1991 Persian Gulf War was considered a brief and successful military operation with few injuries and deaths. A large number of returning veterans, however, soon began reporting health problems that they believed to be associated with their service in the gulf.  Under a Congressional mandate, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) is reviewing a wide array of biologic, chemical, and physical agents to determine if exposure to these agents may be responsible for the veterans' health problems.

This report, Gulf War and Health, Volume 3: Fuels, Combustion Products, and Propellants, examines the health effects of hydrazines, red fuming nitric acid, hydrogen sulfide, oil-fire byproducts, diesel-heater fumes, and fuels (for example, jet fuel and gasoline). 

Previous reports in the IOM Gulf War and Health series include Gulf War and Health, Volume 1: Depleted Uranium, Pyridostigmine Bromide, Sarin, and Vaccines, Gulf War and Health, Volume 2: Insecticides and Solvents, and Gulf War and Health: Updated Literature Review of Sarin.