Chemical warfare experiments.

* The Veterans Benefits Administration has released the first in a series of notification letters to Department of Defense-identified veterans who were exposed to chemical warfare and related agents as test subjects in military experiments. These experiments took place primarily at military facilities in Edgewood, Md., from 1955 to 1975. The letter informs veterans of benefits they may be entitled to receive and advises them to discuss any health concerns they may have with their VA health care providers.

The Edgewood-Aberdeen experiments involved at least 6,700 "soldier volunteers" exposed to more than 250 different agents. The agents tested involved about half a dozen pharmacological classes, including common approved pharmaceuticals, nerve agents, nerve agent antidotes, psychoactive compounds and irritants such as tear gases. Although records are poor and often incomplete, some veterans were exposed only to placebos such as saline, or other common substances such as alcohol or caffeine.