Education, not a diagnosis.

Toxic Exposure Evidence Center is an educational platform operated by Albert Leroy Thombs Jr., VA-Accredited Claims Agent #45147, in Nevada. Accreditation is issued under 38 C.F.R. § 14.629 and regulated by the VA Office of General Counsel.

Its purpose is to explain, in plain language and on this site, what the science says about military toxic exposure, how VA actually decides these claims, and what a complete evidence file looks like. It exists so a veteran can walk into an appointment or a claim informed rather than guessing.

Nothing on this site is medical advice, and nothing here creates a doctor-patient relationship. Specifically:

• Do not start, stop, or change any medication, treatment, or therapy based on anything you read here.
• Do not use this site in place of an evaluation by a licensed clinician.
• Do not delay care because a page here suggests a condition may be exposure-related. The claim can wait. Your health cannot.

Only a licensed clinician who examines you and reviews your records can tell you what is wrong with you and what to do about it.

Several pages on this site list symptoms and warning signs that are commonly associated with a particular exposure or a particular job. Those lists exist for one reason: to give you words to bring to a clinician.

Seeing your symptom on a list does not mean you have the condition, and not seeing it does not mean you are fine. Warning signs are for raising with a clinician — only a clinician can evaluate them. The same is true in reverse: a normal test result on one visit does not close the question.

Research findings are written out on this site rather than handed off as a link, so you can see what a study actually measured and what it concluded. Those summaries are described as accurately as we can state them, and they are still summaries.

Most exposure science reports an association across a population, not proof of causation in any one person. A strong association is powerful evidence in a claim, and it is not the same thing as a medical opinion about you. That opinion has to come from a clinician who examines you and explains the link in your own record.

The rating criteria reproduced on this site are the published criteria in 38 C.F.R. Part 4, and the calculator applies VA’s combined-rating math. Both are tools, not decisions:

• A calculator result is an estimate of how percentages combine — it is not a rating, and it is not a prediction of what VA will assign.
• VA rates the findings in your medical evidence, not your description of your symptoms. Two veterans with the same complaint can be rated differently on the strength of what was measured and written down.
• Criteria, payment amounts, and presumptive lists change. Verify anything that matters to a filing decision against the current regulation and VA’s current guidance before you rely on it.

Location, era, and job pages describe hazards that were documented or reported at a place or in a role. They are a starting point for developing evidence — they are not a finding that you personally were exposed, and they are not a substitute for your official record.

Whether exposure is conceded in your case is decided by VA on your service records, your authorized ILER or TERA information, and the evidence in your file. Do not assume a page here settles that question for you.

Share only what you are comfortable providing. This site does not ask for, and you should never submit through a web form:

• Your Social Security number.
• Your VA file number or claim number.
• Medical records, imaging, or test results.

If a document needs to be reviewed, that happens after you have made contact and only through a channel appropriate for it. See the Privacy policy for what is and is not collected.

Accredited representation is accountable to VA rules and federal fee limits, which is exactly what an unregulated claim-consulting pitch is not. No fee unless you win — contingency representation is generally 20% of past-due benefits under 38 C.F.R. § 14.636.

Accreditation number #45147 is the anti-scam signal, and you should check it. VA publishes its accreditation search, and any legitimate representative will hand you their number without being asked.

If something on this site is unclear, or you think a page is wrong, say so. Corrections are welcome.