Washington, D.C — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is working to protect Georgia’s servicemembers from possible exposure to harmful chemicals on the job.
After hearing concerns from leaders and servicemembers in Georgia, Sen. Ossoff is launching an inquiry with the Department of Defense to address the prevalence of chemical hazards on installations like hexavalent chromium, which is often found in paint, primers, surface coatings, and other products commonly used in aircraft maintenance.
Sen. Ossoff is pushing the DoD to track and address negative health risks associated with hexavalent chromium and similar hazards to protect servicemembers who may be exposed.
“Our servicemembers volunteer knowing that there are risks associated with military service. However, preventable and unnecessary occupational health risks to American servicemembers are unacceptable,” Sen. Ossoff wrote. “I write to draw your attention to the risk hexavalent chromium and similar hazardous chemicals pose to the health of American servicemembers and civilian personnel at Department of Defense installations, and to the need to address deferred or unmet facility repairs that may exacerbate health risks to those working at these installations.”
The CDC has designated hexavalent chromium as an occupational carcinogen, and these chemical hazards are especially prevalent on military installations that house aircraft maintenance activities
Although local military leaders are working to mitigate these potentially harmful chemicals, military installations are currently dealing with severe maintenance deficiencies at many military installations — forcing servicemembers to take on unnecessary occupational health risks when conducting maintenance on base.
Click here to read Sen. Ossoff’s inquiry with the DoD.
