Congress passed a sweeping new set of mandates on brain safety in the military Wednesday, requiring the Pentagon to set new safety limits for troops’ blast exposure, track and report exposures throughout their careers, modify existing weapons to reduce the danger and, for the first time, take brain safety into account when designing new weapons.

The new requirements are part of the $895 billion military spending bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate approved Wednesday. It cleared the House last week.

The provisions on brain safety reflect a broad shift in how Congress and the military view the hazard of blast exposure, also called overpressure. Evidence mounted this year that service members are at risk of developing brain injuries from repeatedly firing their own weapons and from high-performance equipment such as speedboats and fighter jets, but the military often has missed the problem.

“It’s been a hard fight to get to this point,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who introduced the measures, said.

— The New York Times