38 CFR § 3.320
Claims based on exposure to fine particulate matter
Comes up in claims for asthma, sinusitis, or one of the listed rare cancers where the veteran served in a qualifying location, including burn-pit and PACT Act related claims.
How the Board actually uses this section
Original RateMyVSO research, catalogued from the full archive of published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions. No other source measures how each regulation plays out at the Board.
The grant figure reflects the mix of claims where this section comes up, not the legal merit of any single claim.
Read the 4,111 decisions citing § 3.320
The conditions it decides
Decision counts per diagnostic code. Select a bar to read those exact Board decisions.
What this regulation says, in plain English
This section presumes that veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater during the Persian Gulf War, or in Afghanistan, Syria, Djibouti, or Uzbekistan after September 19, 2001, were exposed to fine particulate matter (such as burn pit smoke and dust). It lists chronic respiratory diseases, asthma, rhinitis, and sinusitis, and a set of rare cancers of the throat, trachea, and lung, that are service connected for these veterans without needing proof of exposure or an in-service diagnosis.
Read the full text of 38 CFR § 3.320
This text was last amended by VA on October 31, 2023. We check it against eCFR every week.
(a) Service connection based on presumed exposure to fine particulate matter—(1) General. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a disease listed in paragraphs (a)(2) and (3) of this section shall be service connected even though there is no evidence of such disease during the period of military service. #
(2) Chronic diseases associated with exposure to fine particulate matter. The following chronic diseases will be service connected if manifested to any degree (including non-compensable) at any time following separation from a qualifying period of military service as defined in paragraph (a)(5) of this section.
(i) Asthma. #
(ii) Rhinitis.
(iii) Sinusitis, to include rhinosinusitis.
(3) Rare cancers associated with exposure to fine particulate matter. The following rare cancers will be service connected if manifested to any degree (including non-compensable) at any time following separation from a qualifying period of military service as defined in paragraph (a)(5) of this section.
(i) Squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx.
(ii) Squamous cell carcinoma of the trachea.
(iii) Adenocarcinoma of the trachea.
(iv) Salivary gland-type tumors of the trachea.
(v) Adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung. #
(vi) Large cell carcinoma of the lung.
(vii) Salivary gland-type tumors of the lung.
(viii) Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung.
(ix) Typical and atypical carcinoid of the lung.
(4) Presumption of exposure. A Veteran who has a qualifying period of service as defined in paragraph (a)(5) of this section shall be presumed to have been exposed to fine, particulate matter during such service, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to fine, particulate matter during that service.
(5) Qualifying period of service. The term qualifying period of service means any period of active military, naval, air, or space service in:
(i) The Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War.
(ii) Afghanistan, Syria, Djibouti, or Uzbekistan on or after September 19, 2001, during the Persian Gulf War.
(6) Definitions. (i) The term Southwest Asia theater of operations means Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the neutral zone between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the airspace above these locations, as defined in § 3.317(e)(2).
(ii) The term Persian Gulf War means August 2, 1990, through date to be prescribed by Presidential proclamation or law, as defined in § 3.2(i).
(b) Exceptions. A disease listed in paragraphs (a)(2) and (3) of this section shall not be presumed service connected if there is affirmative evidence that: #
(1) The disease was not incurred during or aggravated by a qualifying period of service; or
(2) The disease was caused by a supervening condition or event that occurred between the Veteran's most recent departure from a qualifying period of service and the onset of the disease; or
(3) The disease is the result of the Veteran's own willful misconduct.
Related Tools and Guides
Read this section on eCFR ↗ · All rating regulations
RateMyVSO. Educational aggregate of published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions and 38 CFR text. Not affiliated with the VA. Not legal advice. Find a VSO representative.