United States President Joe Biden has signed legislation expanding healthcare for millions of US veterans who were exposed to toxins during their service – including smoke emanating from “burn pits”, contaminated water and Agent Orange used in the Vietnam war.
Biden signed the bill, known as the PACT Act, on Wednesday. The law is expected to provide more than $280bn over a 10-year period for expanded healthcare and disability benefits for about 3.5 million impacted veterans. The pits were used to burn waste such as plastic tyres, batteries, explosives, human feces and chemicals in Iraq and Afghanistan.
