Report On Contaminated Drinking Water At Camp Lejeune

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Water - Air Quality / Agriculture;  Veterans / Ex-Servicemen
Article Date: 10 Jun 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Two chemicals - trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) - found to have contaminated drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from the 1950s to 1985 have been linked to certain diseases and disorders, including various cancers. A new report from the National Research Council, Contaminated Water Supplies at Camp Lejeune - Assessing Potential Health Effects, reviews scientific evidence about the potential adverse health effects that could occur after exposure to TCE, PCE, and other contaminants; recommends the usefulness of conducting additional studies on former residents of the base; and identifies scientific considerations that could help the U.S. Department of the Navy, under which the Marine Corps operates, set priorities on future actions. The report will be released at a 90-minute public briefing.

Details:
The briefing will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 13, at the USO of North Carolina, Jacksonville Center, 9 Tallman St., Jacksonville, N.C.

Members of the committee participating in the briefing are:

• David Savitz, chair of the committee and Charles W. Bluhdorn professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City
  
  
• Caroline Baier-Anderson, health scientist, Environmental Defense, and assistant professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore
  
  
• Prabhakar Clement, professor of environmental engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.

Source:
Jennifer Walsh
National Academy of Sciences