Citation Nr: 18157231 Decision Date: 12/12/18 Archive Date: 12/12/18 DOCKET NO. 16-49 822 DATE: December 12, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a lung disability (claimed as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and/or interstitial lung disease), to include as due to environmental exposures, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from August 1970 to June 1977. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a June 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Waco, Texas. Cognizant of VA’s duty to interpret a Veteran’s submissions broadly, the Board has recharacterized the claim in the manner indicated above. Brokowski v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 79, 85 (2009). The Board notes that the Veteran has not been provided with a VA examination for the disability at issue on appeal. VA’s duty to assist includes providing a medical examination when the record (1) contains competent evidence of diagnosed disability or symptoms of disability, (2) establishes that the veteran suffered an event, injury or disease in service, and (3) indicates that the claimed disability may be associated with the in-service event, injury, or disease. 38 U.S.C § 5103A (d); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (c)(4); McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 83-86 (2006). The Veteran alleges that exposure to environmental toxins during active service caused his current lung disability. For example, in lay statements submitted with his VA Form 9, Appeal to Board of Veterans’ Appeals, he alleged that he was exposed to asbestos when removing engine parts installed with asbestos gaskets and heat shields, trichloroethylene and other benzene/acetone-based cleaning solvents while cleaning engines and parts, petroleum fuels while aircraft were refueling, carbon monoxide while running and adjusting engines as necessary, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) while spraying for pests in the workshop and barracks, during his duties as an aircraft mechanic. While the RO determined that the Veteran’s military occupation specialty had a low probability of exposure to asbestos, it did not address the Veteran’s contentions about other environmental exposures during active service. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 1154, 7104 (a). As the Veteran has made specific allegations, consistent with the time, places, and circumstances of his service, the Board finds that there is credible evidence of in-service environmental exposures. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 469 (1994). VA medical records reflect ongoing treatment for a lung disability. Specifically, records from July 2014 evince a diagnosis of COPD, secondary to smoking. Nevertheless, the Veteran has alleged that his disability is related to events occurring during active service, and has sought treatment for respiratory symptoms as recently as July 2018. Accordingly, the Veteran should be afforded a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his current lung disability. See McLendon, 20 Vet. App. at 83. The Veteran receives VA treatment for the disability at issue on appeal; therefore, all outstanding VA treatment records should be procured. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records for the period from August 2018 to the present. 2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of each diagnosed lung disability. The claims file should be made available for review, and the examination report should reflect that such review was completed. The examiner is asked to opine, and provide a complete rationale, on the following: a) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) that any diagnosed lung disability had its onset during or is otherwise etiologically related to the Veteran’s active duty service, to include the alleged environmental exposures reported in the VA Form 9 received in October 2016, of asbestos when removing engine parts installed with asbestos gaskets and heat shields, trichloroethylene and other benzene/acetone-based cleaning solvents while cleaning engines and parts, petroleum fuels while aircraft were refueling, carbon monoxide while running and adjusting engines as necessary, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) while spraying for pests in the workshop and barracks, during his duties as an aircraft mechanic. 3. Thereafter, readjudicate the claim. If the benefit sought remains denied, furnish the Veteran and his   representative with a supplemental statement of the case. After allowing an appropriate period for response, return the appeal to the Board for review. U. R. POWELL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD D. Reed, Associate Counsel