Toxic exposure from combat burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan
isn’t a new topic, but veterans advocates hope it will get new attention in
2019.
Several groups — most prominently, Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans of America — in recent months have been pushing the issue back into
the public spotlight, in hopes of spurring more public policy reaction from
lawmakers.
The hope is that Congress and Veterans Affairs officials can
move more quickly on research and support services before another generation of
former military personnel starts showing grave health effects from the chemical
poisoning.
In fact, much of 2018’s veterans policy on Capitol Hill
revolved around Vietnam veterans’ exposure to the chemical defoliant Agent
Orange during that conflict. Decades later, the substance has been linked to
numerous rare cancers and other detrimental health effects, and veterans groups
are still lobbying VA to expand their illness definitions to expand veteran
benefits.
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