Public Health
Camp Lejeune Research Studies
Drinking-water systems that supplied two areas of housing at Camp Lejeune were contaminated with industrial chemicals from at least 1953 to 1985. The contaminated wells were shut down in February 1985.
The exact duration and intensity of the exposure at Camp Lejeune are unknown. The geographic extent of contamination by specific chemicals also is unknown.
Health effects from toxic water exposure
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has developed models to try to characterize the geographic extent and intensity of the contamination.
Recently published studies by ATSDR have provided additional scientific information to help evaluate possible service-connection for health effects and to make policy changes.
Contaminated Water Supplies at Camp Lejeune, was published by the National Research Council in 2009 and provides a review of the health effects related to the chemicals detected in contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
Research on Parkinson’s disease
VA researchers compared the medical records of 172,000 Veterans who had been at Camp Lejeune during 1975-1985, when the water supply was highly contaminated with the solvent trichloroethylene (TCE), with 168,000 Veterans during the same period who had been at Camp Pendleton in California, whose water supply was not contaminated. The study concluded that Veterans who lived at Camp Lejeune for at least 3 months between 1975-1985 had a 70-percent higher risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease four decades later.
Health concerns?
If you have health concerns about exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, talk to your health care provider or contact your local VA Environmental Health Coordinator to help you get more information from a health care provider.
Learn about health benefits for Camp Lejeune Veterans and family members.
