Toxic suppressor blowback necessitates military safety reforms, advocates say

In combat, suppressors on a personal weapon can mitigate noise and muzzle flash, offering a critical stealth advantage against the enemy. But for the service member–typically a special operator–behind the weapon, firing suppressed can mean being on the receiving end of a concentrated stream of toxic gases and particulate matter. As efforts to recognize and address the lesser-known side effects of military training, from mild traumatic brain injuries to hearing loss, have increasingly gone mainstream, some advocates are raising the call to target damage from suppressors as well. The veteran-led group Special Operations Association of America (SOAA) published an article earlier this year airing some findings about the health impacts of aerosolized gases and metal fragments that wash over an operator when a gun with a conventional suppressor is fired. According to Dr. Chris Palmer, a former Pentagon official and chief scientist for the suppressor company HUXWRX Safety Co., they can include long-term conditions ranging from decreased sperm motility and deformities to sleep disorders, Parkinson’s disease, and Bradykinesia, or slowed movement. Operators who spoke with SOAA attested to the physical sensation of suppressor blowback, calling it “a thick grime or dust that covers your head, face, neck, and hands, and even gets in your mouth … it can’t be good for us.” Palmer told Military Times he completed a literature review of more than 100 studies looking at the effects of gunfire …