Melissa Gillett LeDuc was training to become a runner while deployed in Baghdad, Iraq, with the Air Force in 2010. While preparing for a marathon she hoped to run when she got home, she would run near the base’s perimeter. However, a fence wasn’t the only thing along the outskirts of the installation — a burn pit was there too.
Though the smell was concerning and something LeDuc knew was probably unhealthy, she never imagined that the military would engage in practices that would harm a service member’s health severely.
“I thought I was a little bit invincible at the time — where it won’t affect me — and if it does, it’s so far in the future, I’ll be fine,” she said.
When LeDuc returned home, not only was her hard training not paying off on her runs, but she was in worse shape than before she started.
“I started failing my fitness tests in the Air Force, which is not fun,” she said. “You get too many [fails], and you don’t get to serve anymore. I didn’t really realize what was going on. I just couldn’t run, and I couldn’t get enough oxygen.”
Burn pits were used in Afghanistan, Iraq and other installations abroad to dispose of mass amounts of waste. Burning items like chemicals, fibers, plastics and rubber often produced dangerous toxic fumes, which, when inhaled, could harm anyone who breathed the air.
According to the VA, nearly 4 million service members were exposed to the environmental toxins from those burn pits. However, it took years for burn pit health concerns to be acknowledged. But it’s not just post-9/11 veterans who have had exposures to toxins. Agent Orange, an herbicidal warfare chemical the military used during the Vietnam War, has also been linked to a number of conditions and cancers in veterans.
As of August 2023,, more than 4 million veterans have been screened for toxic exposures, and approximately 43% identified at least one potential exposure. As of June 2023, nearly 300,000 veterans’ claims have been filed.
LeDuc believes she’s one of the lucky ones to file a claim early. Despite having many health issues, she has had insurance and can monitor issues as they arise, she explained.
What really helps her is proactive care.
“I went to the VA because my friend works there,” LeDuc said. “She forced me to note that I had any issues. I just didn’t feel like I needed it because I guess I didn’t really tie things together.”
For years, veterans who served alongside LeDuc have been experiencing various cancers, lung conditions and nasal issues. Many filed claims with the VA, but they were rejected for lack of evidence that their conditions were tied to military service, let alone toxic exposure from burn pits.
Read: Military Women May Face Additional Hurdles in Lung Condition Diagnoses >>
Part of the problem, Military Times reported, was that the Defense Department didn’t log what it burned. Therefore, proving health conditions were connected to exposure and not other environmental or genetic factors was difficult.
However, things have really turned around with the passage of the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics or “PACT” Act.
“The PACT Act is a law that expands VA healthcare and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances,” according to a statement by the VA. “This law helps us provide generations of Veterans — and their survivors — with the care and benefits they’ve earned and deserve.”
More than 20 conditions are now on the presumptive conditions list acknowledged in the PACT Act for toxic exposure, 12 of which are cancer of some type.
According to Patricia Hastings, M.D., chief consultant for Health Outcomes Military Exposures at the VA, women are the fastest-growing treatment population among those enrolled at the VA. And preventive care and testing is hugely important for women who have served and think they may have experienced any toxic environmental exposure. It’s particularly important for detecting and treating cancer.
LeDuc is one of those veterans who had a scare and sought testing. While she currently does not have cancer, her condition is one that her VA doctors will continue to monitor.
Approximately 3% of invasive U.S. cancer diagnoses are given to veterans in a VA clinic each year, but VA patients only make up 1.9% of the U.S. population.
“We offer a toxic exposure screen, and this gets documented in your health record and also starts the conversation with your healthcare provider,” Hastings said. “I think that’s the most important thing … that you and your healthcare provider, as a woman, have a discussion about what your exposures have been.”
That’s the first step to treatment and connecting with benefits. There’s also the burn pit registry.
Established in 2014, veterans who sign up with the VA Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry help medical professionals understand the dangers of exposure to environmental toxins like burn pits or Agent Orange during military service.
By joining the registry, you can provide information that will help the VA provide better care to all veterans, the VA notes.
There are also some specifics for women veterans or those assigned female at birth.
“Every VA Medical Center has a woman veterans program manager, and that person’s sole role is to make sure they’re not only reaching out to the veterans but also to untangle any issues that they encountered with regard to receiving the healthcare — everything from getting connected to a toxic exposure screen to getting connected to their appointments,” according to Lourdes Tiglao, Director, VA Center for Women Veterans.
Hastings noted that the Center for Women’s Health made sure that they have trainings for people caring for women veterans. “Everything from the physical to the emotional care and then for military environmental exposures.”
For any servicewomen concerned about environmental toxin exposure, routine checks are vital. The symptoms of each condition can vary widely, so the condition list is a good place to start. Additionally, any changes in health or new symptoms are worth getting checked out with your medical provider.
“There’s no harm in getting checked out on a yearly basis,” Tiglao said.
For now, research is ongoing and treatments are continually being developed.
Resources
Burn Pits 360 Burn Pits Registry
The PACT Act and Your VA Benefits
VA Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry
VA Center for Women Veterans (CWV)
The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
This educational resource was created with support from AstraZeneca.
