The Study A large study by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has found that veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan had a 55 percent higher risk of developing asthma from dust and burn pit exposure than veterans who were not deployed to those countries. The study included 48,000 veterans who were deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) . Those soldiers showed exceedingly higher rates of chronic respiratory ailments.  Other Related Issues