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Exposure to hazardous chemicals and materials

Find out if you can get disability compensation (monthly payments) and other benefits for illnesses or other conditions, like the ones listed below. These are illnesses and conditions we believe may be caused by contact with harmful chemicals or other hazardous materials while serving in the military.

Medical care for volunteers involved in chemical and biological testing

As many as 60,000 Veterans volunteered for medical research for the U.S. biological and chemical programs between 1942 and 1975. You can get medical care through the U.S. Army if you volunteered for this research and have an injury or illness directly caused by your participation.

If you have questions or need help getting medical care:

  • Agent Orange

    If you served in the Republic of Vietnam or in or near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during the Vietnam Era—or in certain related jobs—you may have had contact with Agent Orange, an herbicide used to clear plants and trees during the war.

  • Asbestos

    If you worked in certain military jobs, you may have had contact with asbestos (toxic fibers once used in many buildings and products).

  • Birth defects like spina bifida

    If you served in the Republic of Vietnam, in Thailand, or in or near the DMZ during the Vietnam Era—and your child has spina bifida or certain other birth defects—your child may be eligible for disability benefits.

  • Contact with mustard gas or lewisite

    If you served at the German bombing of Bari, Italy, in World War II or worked in certain other jobs, you may have had contact with mustard gas.

  • Contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune

    If you served at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River between August 1953 and December 1987, you may be at risk for certain illnesses believed to be caused by contaminants found in the drinking water during that time.

  • Gulf War Illness

    If you served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations, you may be at risk of certain illnesses or other conditions linked to this region.

  • Gulf War Illness in Afghanistan

    If you served in Afghanistan, you may be at risk of certain illnesses or other conditions linked to this region.

  • Project 112/SHAD

    If you were part warfare testing for Projects 112 or Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD) from 1962 to 1974, you may be at risk of illnesses believed to be caused by chemical testing.

  • Radiation exposure

    If you served in the post-WWII occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, were imprisoned in Japan, worked with or near nuclear weapons testing, or served at a gaseous diffusion plant or in certain other jobs, you may be at risk for illnesses believed to be caused by radiation.

  • Specific environmental hazards

    If you served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Djibouti, or near Atsugi, Japan, you may have had contact with toxic chemicals in the air, water, or soil.

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