USAFSAM Visits MAFB to Continue Cancer Study

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Oscar Ruiz-Camacho, 5th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron, Bioenvironmental Engineering Technician, digs a hole outside of a missile alert facility (MAF), near Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, July 25, 2023. Ruiz-Camacho collected a soil sample at a MAF to test for organic phosphates from pesticides. Airmen from the 5th OMRS and the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine visited Minot’s MAFs as part of the ongoing “Missile Community Cancer Study” at all three intercontinental ballistic missile wings in Air Force Global Strike Command. The team assessed indoor air quality at each facility to include temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide levels. They also collected water and soil samples and tested for presence of radon, polychlorinated biphenyls, organic phosphates and other potential occupational exposure hazards. USAFSAM is part of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing.