A newly redesigned Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, launched by the Department of Veterans Affairs, includes automatic enrollment and simplified requirements to improve access to treatment for veterans who have been exposed to airborne hazards and burn pits.

“This tool is a significant improvement in making data available in a way that better serves all those who were exposed to burn pits and other hazards,” Dr. Lester Martínez-López, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a DoD news release.

The VA developed the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, also known as the Burn Pit Research Registry, in 2014 to help service members and veterans document their exposure to airborne hazards while deployed overseas.

“Service members can be exposed to environmental hazards from many different sources, including nuclear and radioactive waste sites, open-air trash combustion (burn pits), chemical warfare agents, and even contaminated drinking water—and research suggests that these exposures have been widespread,” according to analysis from the Rand Corp.

The redesigned registry includes more than 4.7 million veterans and service members who meet the participation criteria based on DoD records. This includes those who served in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Djibouti, the Gulf of Aden, Oman, Qatar, Syria and Somalia.

Those who don’t want to participate in the registry can opt out here.

The registry will be used to conduct research and inform VA policy decision-making, according to the news release. No medical information is stored in the registry. “Being part of the registry is a way for individuals to help and improve our understanding of the challenges faced by service members and veterans affected by these exposures,” Martínez said.

Through the redesign and registry, VA is taking a proactive approach to toxic exposure.

“The Burn Pit Registry is fueling groundbreaking research and enabling VA’s ability to identify and proactively address health challenges that toxic-exposed veterans face at a population level,” said Dr. Shereef Elnahal, undersecretary for health at the VA.

For more information on the registry, click here.