VA Adds 9 Respiratory Cancers to List of Illnesses Caused by Burn Pits

by Nikki Wentling

Many veterans who have been diagnosed at young ages with cancer, respiratory issues and lung disease have blamed exposure to the toxic fumes from open-air burn pits that the military used throughout the 1990s and the post-9/11 wars to burn garbage, jet fuel, paint, medical waste, and plastics among other materials. Last week, the VA announced that it has created a fast-track to disability compensation for veterans who developed one of nine rare respiratory cancers, recently added to the department's presumptive list, because of their exposure to toxic burn pits during overseas deployments. The presumption applies to veterans who served in Southwest Asia sometime between Aug. 2, 1990, and the present, or in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Syria or Djibouti sometime after Sept. 19, 2001. In addition to the recently added cancers, asthma, rhinitis, and sinusitis are also on the presumptive list.
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An airman tosses unserviceable uniform items into a burn pit at Balad Air Base, Iraq, on March 10, 2008.