Veterans nationwide are getting ill day by day as a result of years-long exposure to toxins during their military service years. To acknowledge toxic exposure as a major occupational hazard in the US Armed Forces, in 2022, the Senate passed the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT Act). The PACT Act expanded VA health care and benefits for veterans, adding 20+ more toxic chemicals and related illnesses to the list of presumptive conditions.
The PACT Act brought significant change for veterans exposed to burn pits and harmful substances, such as certain industrial solvents; it made the application process for benefits and health care services more straightforward. However, despite evidence linking volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to severe health conditions, the Act leaves behind veterans suffering from VOC-caused diseases.
Volatile organic compounds are many types of human-made chemicals with high vapor pressure and low water solubility. They are typically industrial solvents, such as trichloroethylene, fuel oxygenates, or by-products produced by chlorination in water treatment, such as chloroform. Thousands of products contain VOCs, such as paints, paint thinners, pharmaceuticals, petroleum fuels, or hydraulic fluids.
VOC-containing products release these chemicals and contaminate the environment. VOCs can be absorbed easily through the skin, respiratory organs, and the digestive system. They pose health risks to the people exposed to them, even at low concentrations, but for a long time.
Why should the PACT Act be urgently expanded to cover veterans affected by VOC exposure?
The Military’s heavy use of VOCs makes these dangerous chemicals an occupational hazard for our military men and women. Some VOCs are used for painting military vehicles, the Navy used them for shipbuilding, and US Air Force personnel were found to have large concentrations of VOC in their blood due to jet fuel exposure.
Consequently, many veterans are suffering from VOC-linked conditions such as neurological disorders and liver damage. Unfortunately, VOCs are carcinogenic. They have been proven to increase the risk of leukemia, kidney, liver, and throat cancers, and also lung cancer. Thus, a growing body of medical evidence justifies adding VOC exposure to the list of presumptive conditions covered under the PACT Act.
Several military sites in Colorado, including the former Lowry Air Force Base and active installations like Buckley and Schriever Space Force Bases, have faced environmental contamination concerns involving substances such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals, and PFAS chemicals—raising health and environmental risks that have prompted federal and state-led cleanup efforts.
In Colorado, there are over 369,000 veterans, and regular health monitoring for VOCs and for the timely detection of malignant conditions is essential. However, the VA’s current benefits and healthcare system leave veterans with VOC-related conditions behind. By not recognizing them under the same presumptive conditions as those exposed to burn pits, for example, veterans diagnosed with VOC-linked diseases have to go through complex and burdensome bureaucratic processes. While their claims are handled with long delays, some even lose their lives to cancer.
It is not only an urgent but a moral question
VOC exposure and its adverse health effects affecting our veterans is a known risk, not a hypothetical one. There is no excuse for excluding them from the PACT Act. Since the passage of the PACT Act, over 6 million veterans have been screened for toxic exposure, and more than 1.4 million veterans have been approved for benefits. The government has a moral obligation to support all veterans, including those exposed to VOCs. Unfortunately, as of today, these veterans still have to fight for recognition and improved access to healthcare and benefits.
Besides the VA’s shortcomings, the Department of Defense has a history of delays and inadequate assessments when addressing contamination at military sites. This pattern of neglect has left many veterans exposed to hazardous substances, including VOCs.
We urge our policymakers to act and protect veterans exposed to VOCs. Passing legislation that expands presumptive-based coverage for veterans affected by VOC would not only tackle a health crisis. It would address a moral neglect question. Veterans who risked their health for their country and whose lives are threatened because of VOC exposure deserve the same level of care and recognition as those exposed to other toxic substances.
Jordan Cade is a personal injury attorney at Environmental Litigation Group, P.C. in Birmingham, Alabama. He specializes in personal injury, medical malpractice, civil rights, and environmental exposure litigation.
