Toxic Exposure Risk Activity (TERA)

Depending on when, where, and what you did in service, the VA will presume you were exposed to certain toxins.

This presumption of exposure under This law does NOT in and of itself grant service-connection!

What it DOES do is entitles you to a Compensation and Pension examination with a Direct medical opinion, so long as you have a diagnosis or claim a symptom!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• This entitlement does automatically NOT apply to diagnosable Physical or Mental conditions! If you believe a physical or mental condition is due to your TERA exposure(s), then you will NEED to present medical evidence to support this belief.

• Hearing loss and Tinnitus are NOT considered physical conditions.

• Do NOT claim your exposure(s)! An exposure is NOT a disability! You MUST claim whatever you think your exposure caused.

• The claimed condition(s) need NOT have started in service!

AGENT ORANGE NOTES:

• The following conditions have been determined by the Secretary of the VA to have NO association with Agent Orange. Meaning, if the only TERA exposure is AO, then the VA CANNOT get a TERA medical opinion for the condition!

  • Cancers:

    • Bone and connective tissues;

    • Brain;

    • Digestive (anus, colorectal, esophageal, small intestines, and stomach);

    • Endocrine (including thyroid and thymus);

    • Eye;

    • Hepatobiliay cancers (bile ducts, gallbladder, and liver);

    • Leukemia (other than all chronic B-cell leukemias; including hairy-cell leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia);

    • Melanoma;

    • Mouth (including lips and tongue);

    • Nervous system;

    • Nonmelanoma cancers (basal cell and squamous cell);

    • Pancreatic;

    • Pleura, mediastinum, and other unspecified sites within the respiratory system and intrathoracic organs;

    • Pharynx; and

    • Reproductive (breast, cervix, ovary, penis, testes, uterus; excluding prostate)

  • Non-cancers:

    • Asthma;

    • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;

    • Circulatory conditions (other than hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and stroke);

    • Endometriosis;

    • Eye diseases;

    • Farmer’s lung;

    • Gastrointestinal, metabolic, and digestive disorders;

    • Hearing loss;

    • Immune system disorders (immune suppression, allergy, and autoimmunity);

    • Neurobehavioral disorders (cognitive and neuropsychiatric);

    • Neurodegenerative diseases (excluding Parkinson’s disease and Parkinsonism);

    • Osteoporosis; and

    • Peripheral nervous system disorders (besides early-onset peripheral neuropathy)