Agent Orange Presumptive Conditions: List and Eligibility

VA presumes that certain diseases are connected to Agent Orange exposure when the applicable condition and service requirements are met. The current list includes hypothyroidism, hypertension, Parkinsonism, Type 2 diabetes, specified cancers, and other listed illnesses. It is important to check both the diagnosis and the service category: Agent Orange exposure does not use one universal date window for every location.

Start with VA's official Agent Orange eligibility page, checked September 8, 2026. A presumption can establish the connection to service. You still need evidence of the qualifying facts and the disability's severity.

Agent Orange presumptive conditions list

Listed cancers

• Bladder cancer.
• Chronic B-cell leukemia.
• Hodgkin's disease.
• Multiple myeloma.
• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
• Prostate cancer.
• Respiratory cancers, including cancers of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea.
• Certain soft-tissue sarcomas.

The soft-tissue category has exclusions. VA specifically says its presumptive list does not include osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or mesothelioma. Use the pathology or specialist's exact diagnosis rather than assuming every cancer of a nearby body part belongs in a listed category.

Other listed illnesses

• AL amyloidosis.
• Chloracne or a similar acneiform disease.
• Diabetes mellitus Type 2.
• High blood pressure, or hypertension.
• Hypothyroidism.
• Ischemic heart disease.
• Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, or MGUS.
• Parkinsonism.
• Parkinson's disease.
• Early-onset peripheral neuropathy.
• Porphyria cutanea tarda.

Chloracne, early-onset peripheral neuropathy, and porphyria cutanea tarda have an additional timing and severity requirement: under the rating regulations VA cites, they must have become at least 10% disabling within one year after the last relevant herbicide exposure. A much later diagnosis does not automatically establish or disprove when the qualifying manifestations began; the history and evidence need review.

Other listed diseases have their own definitions and applicable rules. Do not treat a symptom such as numbness, a high blood pressure reading, or an abnormal laboratory result as a confirmed diagnosis without medical assessment.

Which service locations and dates qualify?

VA's current public guidance lists the following service categories. The table is a navigation aid; use the linked official page for the full requirements.

VA also describes qualifying repeated contact with affected C-123 aircraft through specified duties, and other circumstances involving transporting, testing, storing, or using herbicides. Those categories require their own evidence. Service anywhere outside the table does not automatically establish exposure, but a veteran may still present evidence of actual exposure and a supported connection to the condition.

Blue Water Navy: use the statutory zone

The offshore rule is measured from a coordinate-defined statutory demarcation line, not a generic distance from the nearest coastline. A statement that a vessel was “11 miles offshore” does not settle the question without the actual position and applicable boundary.

Organize the vessel name, your service aboard it, the relevant dates, and records that can establish its position. Deck logs and other official service records may be important. A campaign medal by itself does not necessarily prove the exact location required for a presumption.

If you cannot interpret the position records, ask an accredited representative for help. Do not turn an uncertain ship-location estimate into a precise claim of qualifying service.

What changed under the PACT Act?

The PACT Act added hypertension and MGUS and expanded recognized exposure locations, including the specified Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Guam, American Samoa, and Johnston Atoll categories. The separate Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 established the offshore statutory rule.

For qualifying service at a U.S. or Royal Thai military base within the PACT Act date window, do not substitute the older perimeter-duty test for the current statutory category. Older Board decisions and videos may discuss the former framework. A historical denial can explain what happened then without describing the rule that applies now.

A practical eligibility worksheet

A fictional example: a veteran with a confirmed hypertension diagnosis and documented qualifying Thailand-base service would organize the diagnosis and service records, then identify current severity evidence. The veteran would not need to invent a perimeter assignment to match an older video. This example illustrates the records to check; it is not an eligibility decision.

What if VA denied the condition before it became presumptive?

VA's official page explains different situations. It describes automatic rereview for certain previously denied bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and Parkinsonism claims, and Supplemental Claims for other requests based on changes in law, including Blue Water Navy circumstances.

Read the section that matches your condition and prior decision. Do not assume every old denial is automatically being reviewed, or that every award will be paid back to the original application. Agent Orange effective dates can involve special rules, including rules that do not apply equally to every disease or service category. Bring the prior decision and filing history to an accredited representative if an earlier date is at issue.

What if my condition is not on the list?

You can still seek service connection with the evidence required for the applicable theory. VA's Agent Orange page describes additional evidence for a nonpresumptive condition. A clinician may need to address the individual medical connection and other relevant factors.

A private nexus letter is not automatically required for every such claim, and a general article about exposure does not establish every fact in your case. Start by identifying the evidence already available and the exact question still unanswered.

Does this cover a veteran's children?

The veteran's Agent Orange disease list is not a general list of inherited conditions for children. Separate VA programs address spina bifida and certain birth defects under their own service and eligibility rules. Follow the children's-benefit links on VA's official Agent Orange page for the particular situation. Do not file a child's request as though it were the veteran's own presumptive disability claim.

Your next step

Complete the diagnosis-and-service worksheet. Claim Raven's presumptive-conditions tool can help organize the match you need to verify. Keep the current VA source beside the result, and use the official filing or review instructions for your situation.

Sources and limits

Reviewed September 8, 2026 using VA's Agent Orange eligibility guidance, VA's PACT Act page, and the relevant herbicide provisions in the official GPO daily eCFR Title 38 file. The fictional example is an educational aid. This article does not predict approval, verify a vessel's position, or determine an individual effective date.