Being on land in Vietnam or at sea in Vietnamese waters or consuming water from estuarine Vietnamese waters
This means:
- being on land in Vietnam, OR
- being at sea in Vietnamese waters, OR
- being on board a vessel and consuming potable water supplied on that vessel, when the water supply has been produced by evaporative distillation of estuarine Vietnamese waters.
This consumption can have occurred after a vessel had left Vietnamese waters, if the water was produced as above. This part of the SOP factor reflects the finding of a Departmentally sponsored study that dioxin is not removed from water by evaporative distillation. On Navy ships and Army small ships in Vietnam, potable water was produced from evaporative distillation of surrounding estuarine water. Overall the findings of this study demonstrate that evaporative distillation of water does not remove but rather enriches certain contaminants such as dioxins in drinking water. Subsequent ingestion by sailors on board ships (as well as soldiers and airmen, who were passengers) is thus a vector for exposure to these chemicals.
While it is unlikely that accurate exposure of the personnel on board ships can be estimated, the study findings suggest that the personnel on board ships were exposed to biologically significant quantities of dioxins.
The RMA has defined "being on land in Vietnam or at sea in Vietnamese waters" as "service in at least one of the areas and at the times described in Items 4 and 8 of Schedule 2 of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986". Therefore, if the veteran has operational service in Vietnam or Vietnamese waters, he or she has served in one of the specified areas at the required time - if necessary, check the service records to confirm locations and time of operational service.
- Item 4 of Schedule 2 of the VEA
- Item 8 of Schedule 2 of the VEA
Last reviewed for CCPS 18 July 2007.
Preliminary questions [2443]
2448 the veteran had operational service in Vietnam.
8077 the veteran has established the causal connection between being on land in Vietnam or at sea in Vietnamese waters or having consumed water from estuarine Vietnamese waters as specified in the SOP for malignant neoplasm of the lung and operational service for the clinical onset of the condition under consideration.
Clinical onset and operational service [8077]
33543 the veteran has been on land in Vietnam or at sea in Vietnamese waters on operational service for a cumulative period of at least 30 days.
8078 the veteran had been on land in Vietnam or at sea in Vietnamese waters for at least 30 days on operational service at least 5 years before the clinical onset of the condition under consideration.
or
33512 the veteran has consumed water from estuarine Vietnamese waters as specified in the SOP for the condition under consideration.
33513 the veteran has consumed water from estuarine Vietnamese waters as specified in the SOP for the condition under consideration, for a cumulative period of at least 30 days.
33514 the veteran had consumed water from estuarine Vietnamese waters as specified in the SOP for the condition under consideration, for a cumulative period of at least 30 days at least five years before the clinical onset of the condition under consideration.
33508 the veteran's operational service made a material contribution to the consumption of water from estuarine Vietnamese waters as specified in the SOP for a cumulative period of at least 30 days at least five years before the clinical onset of the condition under consideration.