Adverse Effects
of Camp Lejeune
Toxins on Adults

For over 30 years several military and civilian residents of Camp Lejeune were drinking contaminated water as several industrial solvents were leached into drinking water. The chemical compound that contaminated the water included: Trichloroethylene (TCE), Perchloroethylene (PCE), Benzene, and Vinyl chloride. These chemicals have been linked to several health problems from the exposure and intake of them in Camp Lejeune’s drinking water.
TCE causes several health issues depending on time of exposure. Acute exposure is known to cause oculomotor and ciliary reflex dysfunction as well as impaired neuropsychological performance issues. While long term, or chronic exposure is linked to word association reduction, ataxia, decreased appetite, headache, short-term memory loss, sleep disturbances, and vertigo. Ingesting TCE is known to create carcinogenic affects of liver cancer, kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate cancer, and multiple myeloma. When children were exposed to TCE in utero there was an elevated risk of childhood leukemia.

01

Trichloroethylene (TCE)

02

Perchloroethylene (PCE) or (PERC)

Several studies have been conducted on how PCE can affect the body, and several health maladies were associated with PCE contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, and it was determined that PCE is a carcinogen that often affects the central nervous system, kidneys, liver, and color vision in eyes. Other effects linked to PCE exposure include menstrual disorders, spontaneous abortion, sperm abnormalities, and decreased infertility. Perchloroethylene is also associated with many cancers like non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma and bladder cancer, while other evidence indicates it is associated with esophageal, kidney, lung, cervical and breast cancer.

Like with most chemicals, there are varying effects, and benzene is no different. In the short-term, benzene is known to cause dizziness, drowsiness, tremors, headaches, confusion, unconsciousness, vomiting, stomach irritation, convulsions, skin irritation including redness and blisters, as well as throat and eye irritation, and rapid heart rates. Long-term affects include abnormalities in bone-marrow, especially in the cells that produce new blood cells. When blood cells are affected, it can lead to low white blood cell counts (white blood cells are the warriors in your blood that fight off illnesses and infections in the body) , anemia (causes a person to feel weak and tired), and a low platelet count (causes excess bruising and bleeding because they help blood to clot). There is also evidence which purports that long-term exposure to benzene can harm reproductive organs, cause irregular menstrual periods, and may be a risk factor for breast cance, and ovary shrinkage and it may affect fetal development in women and my cause infertility in men.

03

Benzene

04

Vinyl Chloride

Short-term effects of vinyl chloride include eye, mucus membranes, and respiratory tract irritation. Long-term effects that are linked to vinyl chloride include increased risk of rare forms of liver cancer (hepatic angiosarcoma), as well as cancers of the brain, lungs, lymphoma, and leukemia. There is also evidence that suggests that vinyl chloride may also contribute to higher frequencies of miscarriages and may affect growth and development of children in utero and post-partum possibly causing pediatric development problems and Musculo-skeletal disorders.

If you have been stationed at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days or are a family member who lived there with a serviceperson and have developed a medical condition or illness linked to the toxins at the base, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact Krause and Kinsman for a free consultation.