Question:
Jim, are you aware of any connection with being burned by white phosphorus (2nd Degree) and CKD? A little background- I was an 11B in Vietnam 50 years ago and an errant phosphorus shell exploded near me. My left arm was impacted and until the Dustoff arrived, our medic kept the area covered with a wet towel. Back at camp they removed some phosphorus pieces, cleaned the burn area and applied whatever protocol was in place. A severe infection obviously occurred and was treated accordingly with Nitrofurizon. With WP being a toxic chemical, my concern is that it entered my bloodstream and is now affecting my kidneys and perhaps other organs as well. I’ve done some limited research, which indicates the connection, however my GP doesn’t think so. In any case I thought I would check in with you to see if you knew anything more specific. Thank you.
Jim's Reply:
Phosphorous is a naturally occurring mineral found in your bones and it's important to your overall health. The kidneys usually leach out just enough to keep a balance, but too much phosphorous in the bloodstream can occur when we develop chronic kidney disease. I understand that we're talking apples and oranges here and that the derived chemical white phosphorus as an agent of war is a different thing altogether. I also understand how one could make a correlation between being burned by the chemical and later developing kidney disease. However, that's not supported by any evidence that I can locate or have heard of. There are toxic substances that can leech through our skin and have a profound effect on our body. We could start with nicotine patches that help us kick the habit all the way to nerve agents like the deadly Novichok that poisoned former Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia not that long ago. However, chemicals absorbed through the skin have a temporary and immediate effect and that effect doesn't linger for long. That's why we need a new nicotine patch every few hours and why there was scant evidence of poison in the Skripal case. Ultimately anything that hit you that day in the RVN is highly unlikely to have caused or contributed to your CKD and trying to prove your case is probably not possible.