Which toxic substances and military locations were added or removed from presumptive lists in 2024-2025?
Executive summary
In 2024–2025 the VA and federal agencies expanded presumptions tied to toxic exposures: the VA added cancers such as male breast cancer, urethral cancer, and paraurethral gland cancer in June 2024 and established multiple blood- and genitourinary-cancer presumptions tied to PM2.5 with interim final rules effective January 2 and January 10, 2025 (urinary bladder/ureter/GU cancers [1]; leukemias, multiple myeloma, MDS, myelofibrosis due to PM2.5 [2]; three cancer additions in June 2024 [3]). Separately, EPA added nine PFAS chemicals to the Toxic Release Inventory for reporting year 2025 [4] [5]. The VA also proposed and in some cases finalized expansions of presumptive locations for Agent Orange exposure, adding U.S. and Royal Thai bases in Thailand and numerous other locations under rulemaking [6] [7] [8].
1. VA’s mid‑2024 cancer additions: targeted but consequential
In June 2024 the VA formally added three specific cancers—male breast cancer, urethral cancer, and cancer of the paraurethral glands—to the list of PACT Act presumptive conditions, making those diagnoses presumptively service‑connected for qualifying Gulf War and post‑9/11 veterans who served in specified toxic‑exposure areas [3] [9] [10]. These narrowly worded additions remove the need for a medical nexus for many veterans diagnosed with those cancers, accelerating access to benefits [3].
2. PM2.5 rulings broaden the blood and GU cancer presumptions
VA rulemaking in late 2024 and early 2025 established presumptive service connection for several blood cancers and for urinary bladder/ureter/related genitourinary (GU) cancers where exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) occurred in specified theaters and dates. An interim final rule effective January 10, 2025 covered acute and chronic leukemias, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes and myelofibrosis linked to PM2.5 in Southwest Asia and other theaters [2]. Another IFR effective January 2, 2025 established presumptions for urinary bladder, ureter, and related GU cancers after a formal evaluation recommended the presumption [1].
3. Locations added for Agent Orange/herbicide presumptions
VA rulemaking proposed in 2024 and updates afterward expanded the geographic list tied to Agent Orange presumptions. The VA’s materials and outreach state that any U.S. or Royal Thai military base in Thailand from January 9, 1962, through June 30, 1976, is on the presumptive list; the proposed rule would add U.S. locations, parts of Canada, India and other sites to existing presumptive locations such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Guam, Korea, Laos and Thailand [6] [7]. Coverage of these locations is part of a broader PACT Act implementation to recognize where herbicides were tested, used, or stored [8].
4. EPA rule changes and “toxic substances” lists — PFAS and TSCA adjustments
On the chemical‑policy side, EPA finalized additions of nine PFAS to the federal Toxic Release Inventory for reporting year 2025; those nine were added because toxicity values were finalized in 2024 and increase the PFAS items subject to TRI reporting [4] [5]. Separately, EPA’s December 2024 TSCA regulatory updates made certain persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic chemicals ineligible for low‑volume or low‑release exemptions, and those changes took effect January 17, 2025 [11].
5. What was removed or rescinded — available reporting and limits
Available sources do not mention any explicit removals of specific toxic substances from VA presumptive lists in 2024–2025; the reporting and rule notices in the record document additions and expansions rather than deletions (not found in current reporting). On the EPA side, documents cite rule changes that narrow exemptions for some PBT substances under TSCA but do not list specific chemicals being removed from inventories [11].
6. Competing perspectives and policy context
Advocates and veterans’ organizations frame these additions as overdue corrections that broaden access to benefits; official VA rulemaking cites MEESC and formal evaluations to justify presumptions [1] [2]. Industry and regulated parties responded to EPA TSCA and TRI changes with implementation concerns—timelines for reporting and impacts on manufacturing—leading to staggered effective dates and notices to comment [4] [11] [12]. The sources show VA acting to expedite veteran care while EPA’s chemical rules balance public health goals against administrative and compliance burdens [1] [11].
7. Limitations and what to watch next
This summary is limited to the provided documents; additional VA or EPA actions after these filings might change rules or add deletions (available sources do not mention later reversals). Key near‑term items to monitor: VA’s finalization of proposed Agent Orange location rules and any further MEESC recommendations, and EPA’s phased implementation dates for TRI and TSCA changes that affect reporting years and compliance windows [7] [4] [11].
Sources cited above are drawn from reporting and federal notices in the provided results: VA PACT/Agent Orange materials and rulemaking [6] [7] [8], VA interim final rules on PM2.5 and GU cancers [2] [1], industry/veteran legal summaries of June 2024 cancer additions [3] [9] [10], and EPA PFAS/TRI and TSCA regulatory notices [4] [11] [5].