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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Research and Development of High-performance Explosives
Published on: February 20, 2016
Military explosives and health: organic energetic compound syndrome?
1Applied Physics Department, Delft University of Technology, The Netherland. barthoek@ws.tn.tudelft.nl
Abstract:
Military explosives, which are Organic Energetic Compounds (OECs), might be initiating factors in clusters of warfare related illnesses. Substances such as HMX, RDX and TNT are neurotoxic and are possible human carcinogens. Not all the explosive material is consumed in an explosion so that the use of explosives generates harmful dust. In many clusters of illnesses a link can be defined with explosives. In researching for the cause of the illnesses several possibilities are mentioned, but explosives are rarely mentioned. This article considers the possible role of OECs, with the intention of encouraging studies to make the role of explosives clear: no cause, a link with insufficient evidence or the cause of many illnesses.
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