Military's Toxic Exposure to Environmental Hazards

Agent Orange, Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit, Gulf War, Ionizing Radiation, Toxic Embedded Fragments, and contaminated drinking water are just a few of the toxic exposures men and women who serve are exposed to. 

#FightForZero will continue to advocate for health registries for veterans who had exposure to certain environmental hazards, by working with leaders to provide the necessary care and resources to help those suffering and support comprehensive research on #ToxicExposure. To learn more about these exposures take a look through the videos below:

PFAS Contamination: PFAS, short for per- or poly-fluoroalkyl substances, have seeped into the groundwater and at times spread into drinking water by way of firefighting foam runoff. Watch Dark Waters the movie to learn more about these forever chemicals.

Agent Orange: A powerful herbicide used by U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War to eliminate forest cover and crops. Agent Orange contained the deadly chemical dioxin and was the most commonly used herbicide.

Camp Lejeune: The water contamination fat Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987 was contaminated with harmful chemicals at concentrations from 240 to 33400 times levels permitted by safety standards. Base residents later developed cancer and other ailments. The main chemicals involved were volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as perchloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning solvent, and trichloroethylene (TCE), a degreaser, and more than 70 chemicals were identified as contaminating.

Burn Pits: Toxic smoke from burning many tons of assorted waste. Active duty report respiratory difficulties and headache in some cases. The type of waste burned was plastics, batteries, appliances, medicine, dead animals, and even human body parts with jet fuel being used as a n accelerant.

 Long term health effects and acknowledging our military service members and veterans.


Air Force Civil Engineer Center

Restoration Advisory Board (RAB): Provides DoD's cleanup program and meant to increase public participation.

The Need to Protect People from Toxic Chemicals

Florida Superfund Site Profiles:

Homestead Air Force Base, Florida 

Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida

Patrick Air Force Base, Florida

Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida

Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida

USN Air Station Cecil Field, Florida

Whiting Field Naval Air Station, Florida