A Familiar Pattern Emerges for a New Generation of Veterans
Even as active combat operations continue in the Iran theater, a troubling and historically familiar pattern is taking shape on the home front. The Department of Veterans Affairs has confirmed that it has received over 2,400 disability claims related to toxic exposures from service members deployed to the region — a number that advocates say is likely a fraction of those who will ultimately be affected.
The claims cite exposure to a range of hazardous substances including oil well fire smoke, industrial chemical releases from strikes on petrochemical facilities, depleted uranium dust from munitions, and burn pit emissions at forward operating bases. The scenario is painfully reminiscent of the toxic exposure crises that followed the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and operations in Afghanistan.
What Veterans Are Being Exposed To
Military operations in and around Iran's industrial regions have created multiple vectors for toxic exposure. Coalition strikes on oil refineries, chemical plants, and military-industrial complexes have released plumes of smoke containing volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, particulate matter, and potentially carcinogenic substances.
At forward operating bases, the use of burn pits — open-air waste disposal sites where everything from medical waste to plastics is incinerated — continues despite the passage of the PACT Act in 2022, which acknowledged the health risks of such practices. Service members have reported thick smoke conditions lasting days at some installations.
"We fought for years to get the government to acknowledge what burn pits did to Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans. We cannot allow that to happen again," said Rosie Torres, co-founder of Burn Pits 360, a veteran advocacy organization. "The documentation needs to start now, not twenty years from now."
The PACT Act: Will It Help This Time?
The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, signed into law in August 2022, was designed to streamline VA disability claims for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins. It established a presumptive service connection for 23 conditions linked to toxic exposure, meaning veterans no longer need to prove a direct causal link between their service and their illness.
Advocates hope this legislation will prevent the kind of decades-long battles that Gulf War veterans endured trying to prove that their respiratory diseases, cancers, and neurological conditions were connected to chemical exposures during Desert Storm. However, the PACT Act's presumptive conditions were defined based on exposures from previous conflicts, and some of the chemicals being encountered in Iran may not yet be covered.
- Covered under PACT Act: Respiratory conditions from burn pit exposure, certain cancers, sinusitis, rhinitis
- Potentially not covered: Exposures specific to Iranian industrial chemicals, novel petrochemical combinations, certain heavy metals
- Under review: VA has convened a working group to assess whether new presumptive conditions need to be added
What Service Members Should Do Now
Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) including the VFW, American Legion, and Disabled American Veterans are urging active-duty personnel and recent veterans to take immediate steps to protect their future claims.
First, they recommend documenting every exposure incident in writing, including dates, locations, duration, and symptoms. Photographs and videos of smoke conditions, burn pit proximity, and environmental hazards should be preserved. Service members should request that exposures be noted in their military medical records and should report symptoms to military healthcare providers even if they seem minor.
Second, veterans who have already separated from service should enroll in the VA's Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, which tracks health outcomes for those exposed to environmental hazards during military service. Registry enrollment does not constitute a disability claim but creates an official record of potential exposure.
The VA's Response
VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement that the department is "committed to learning from past mistakes" and has established a dedicated processing team for Iran-theater exposure claims. The VA has also expanded its toxic exposure screening program to include questions specific to the current conflict.
Critics, however, note that the VA is already struggling with a backlog of over 900,000 pending disability claims — a number that has grown since PACT Act implementation opened eligibility to millions of previously excluded veterans. Adding claims from a new conflict could strain the system further.
Long-Term Health Concerns
The full health impact of toxic exposures during military service often takes years or decades to manifest. Gulf War veterans exposed to oil well fire smoke in 1991 did not begin experiencing elevated cancer rates until the 2000s and 2010s. Researchers at the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center at the VA estimate that toxic exposures contribute to chronic illness in 30 to 40 percent of deployed veterans.
For the men and women currently serving in the Iran theater, the message from veterans who came before them is clear: document everything, seek medical attention for any symptoms, and do not wait to file claims.
