Lung claims are comp’s most objective cases: the impairment comes off pulmonary function tests — FEV1, FVC, diffusion — numbers a machine prints and the AMA Guides convert to WPI. That objectivity cuts both ways, and the money runs higher than most people guess. Figures computed by the engine.
How breathing is measured
Occupational asthma rates under 05.01.00.00, other respiratory disorders under 05.02 — both classed by spirometry and medication dependence. Mild persistent disease commonly lands around 10% WPI; moderate impairment in the twenties; severe disease with marked limitation at 40%+ — and the engine-computed money at the 2026 maximum:
The trades and the heavy-exposure occupations draw the high variants — the same 25% WPI is $42,050 at a desk and $66,410 in group 490, because breathing capacity is physical work capacity.
The exposure cases: dust, fumes, smoke
Silica, isocyanates, cleaning chemicals, diesel exhaust — classic sources, usually pleaded as cumulative trauma with §5412 dates. The emerging file is wildfire smoke: California’s outdoor workforce breathes it for weeks at a time, and exposure-driven asthma and COPD claims follow the same path — document the exposure, get the PFTs, connect them medically. Baseline testing before the next smoke season is the cheapest evidence an outdoor worker will ever buy.
The two standard fights
Smoking apportionment (§4663): the defense theme in every lung case; it is a burden the QME must actually carry with reasoning, not a reflex discount — how apportionment works. And causation in mixed-exposure histories, which the med-legal record wins or loses. Safety members short-circuit both: firefighters and peace officers carry the §3212 pneumonia presumption with anti-attribution protection. Severe cases add lifetime medical that often outweighs the PD itself. Companion pages: back · knee · shoulder · neck · hip · wrist · ankle · elbow · foot · hand · carpal tunnel · hearing · eye · amputation · fusion · knee replacement · rotator cuff · hip replacement · hernia · head injury · heart. Estimates for informational use; not legal or medical advice.
Rate your lungs right here
Same engine as the tables above — pick your occupation and age, slide the WPI from the report, and carry it into the full calculator when you’re ready.