Potential link between bladder cancer and exposure to explosives

As a community, we are all aware of the anecdotal evidence linking cancers to our service. We have relied heavily on self-help to convey our message within the corridors of the UK MOD, but this approach has not been as successful as we had hoped. Thanks to your contributions to the survey conducted in May of last year, we can report that the initial findings regarding the links between exposure to explosives and bladder cancer were published on Sunday 23^rd March 2025 at the following LINK.

This is the first epidemiological publication of its kind, and we are immensely grateful for your support in completing the survey, as well as to Roger Davies, Gareth Collett, and the Universities of Wales, Glasgow, Birmingham, and King’s College London for bringing this to the public domain. We still have a significant journey ahead; the publication serves as a peer-reviewed indication, and we require larger sample sizes over time to further validate our findings. Thus, we will invite our colleagues from Australia, Canada, the United States, and New Zealand to collaborate with us.

While we sincerely hope that the UK MOD will now provide the necessary support to conduct more extensive surveys of our serving and veteran personnel, please ensure that you check your urine regularly (every six months) for any signs of blood. This is an inexpensive practice has already saved the lives of some within our cohort and should be regarded as standard operating procedure if you are involved in, or have been involved in, ammunition management, particularly explosive ordnance disposal (which includes EOD, BCMD, and IEDD).

If you require further information, please refer to the published paper. If you notice blood in your urine that cannot be explained by a kidney stone or UTI, please take a copy of this research letter to your GP and inform them that you have been involved in the handling and disposal of explosives throughout your career