A growing number of former workers at five now decommissioned Nato depots in Overijssel province have complained of ill health because of the use of camouflage paint.

Sixty-one former workers or their next of kin have lodged a complaint with lawyer Rob Bedaux, who is considering bringing a class action against the defence ministry, the NRC reports.

The former workers suffer from various forms of cancer, breathlessness, hair loss and brittle nails and teeth.

Maintenance

They say that their work brought them into contact with uranium, benzene and the cancer-causing chromium-6 which was used in camouflage paint.

The men, who worked at the depots in the 1980s, did maintenance work on tanks and other military vehicles, cleaning, preparing and painting.

The defence ministry is looking into the case and would not comment, the NRC says.