Studies
The study was conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), which is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and reported by numerous attorneys. Researchers found that children who were exposed to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune had a higher prevalence of dental issues than a comparison group of children who were not exposed.
A study conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) found that exposure to TCE and PCE was associated with an increased risk of developing Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that affects the salivary glands and can cause dry mouth, tooth decay, and gum disease. Oral dryness symptoms include difficulty chewing or swallowing, sore mouth.
The study found that individuals who were exposed to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune were more likely to develop Sjögren’s syndrome than those who were not exposed.
These two studies suggest a link between dental problems and the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. Such dental issues can impact an individual’s quality of life both mentally and physically, the latter causing pain, discomfort, and difficulty eating and speaking.
Dental issues linked to Camp Lejeune contaminated water include the following:
- Cavities, or tooth decay. Such chemicals can cause the protective enamel on the teeth to weaken, making them more susceptible to decay.
- Tooth enamel erosion occurs when the enamel, the outer layer of the tooth, is worn down and exposes the softer dentin underneath. Symptoms include tooth sensitivity, pain, and an increased risk of cavities.
- Gum disease, or periodontal disease, occurs when bacteria accumulate in the spaces between the teeth and gum. This accumulation leads to inflammation, bleeding, and if untreated, gum tissue and bone breaks down that can result in tooth loss and other serious health issues.
- Oral cancer can appear as a sore or lesion in the mouth that doesn’t heal. Symptoms may include difficulty swallowing or chewing, or a persistent pain in the mouth or throat.
ATSDR Study
In 1997, ATSDR completed the Camp Lejeune Public Health Assessment. It determined that the estimated drinking water VOC exposures at Camp Lejeune were several thousand times lower than levels of concern in animal studies. As well, it found these exposures “hundreds of times lower than levels linked to adverse health effects found in workplace studies. ATSDR concluded that both cancer and non-cancer health effects were unlikely in adults exposed to VOC-contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune based on worst-case estimates.” Since that time, however, it has removed the 1997 Assessment (PHA) from this web site due to “additional information [that] emerged related to exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs)”.
What is Being Done Now
Since the Camp Lejeune Justice Act has come into effect, Camp Lejeune victims are better able to file a complaint and obtain compensation. Before the Act, veterans were prohibited from suing the government for injuries sustained during service, and North Carolina law had a ten-year statute of limitations on claims. Now, attorneys are working with veterans to file Camp Lejeune contaminated water lawsuits.
READ MORE CAMP LEJEUNE CONTAMINATED WATER LEGAL NEWS
- Based/lived in or around Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
- Between 8/1/1953 - 12/31/1987
- Servicemember, family member, or civilian
- At least 30 days of exposure to contaminated water
- Have filed administrative claim with Department of the Navy or in the process of doing so
Along with dental issues, other Injuries include:
- Adult leukemia
- Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
- Bladder cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Parkinson’s disease
- Breast cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Female infertility
- Hepatic steatosis
- Leukemia
- Lung cancer
- Miscarriage
- Neurobehavioral effects
- Renal toxicity
- Scleroderma
- Birth Defects (low birth weight, neural tube defects, oral cleft defects, congenital malformations)
- There may be other less common condition that would need to be verified
READER COMMENTS
Jesse goodney usmc 95-03
on
From this point for the next 6 to 8 months I hadn't felt right at all, I avoided sick call as much as possible due to being a boot and the sick call commando stigma that would be associated if I had. So even feeling terrible I would still pt and run sometimes vomiting, dry heaving and so, after pt and the remainder of the day still feeling sick , I would still perform my duties of the day, but after securing for the day, would get off work and be fatigued, weak, fevish, and I would be bedridden til formation the next day only to repeat. Those times I did goto sick call, I would be told a range of things from pneumonia to whatever viral syndrome means and either restricted to bedrest for a day or two or given some motrine and a smile and told to sick it up and go to work. I went through this For the next 5-6 months being ridiculed , teased , then accused of faking being sick even though I was bedridden each day for liberty hours, not able to muster the energy to do what boots usually go do with time off. Even at this point ,medical had no clear explanation as to what I was going through citing viral syndrome as a broad diagnosis due not knowing. I finally took leave and went home for close to 3 weeks where remarkably I started to feel better more and more each day I was home so by the time I was to head back to camp lejeune I felt like me at 100 percent again,, while chalking the funk I was under up to bad chow hall food or homesickness even the difference in being from arizona and just adjusting to east coast weather. So I stopped eating at the chowhall and pretty much replaced water with soda or beer from that point forward and that seemed to alleviate the ailments I went through and for the rest of my service things went as they should with nothing out of the usual to report at the time which was great because I'm not one to really complain or keep whining about things nor being labeled a sick call commando who just was avoiding the run by going to medical wasn't a label I would want or accept to be absolutely clear. The gun line isn't kind to those who pull that sort of thing and you gunrocks know what I'm meaning. So fast forwarding through a couple deployments overseas and various stateside dep.oyment for the next 7 yrs tildischa4ge I had only a few incidents that were solid injuries not sicknesses that I suffered,for example broken ankle twice, yes the same one I hurt pretty bad in boot camp and ignored, shattered my hand and brok my thumb, and I accidentally drank 3 big ol gulps of clp gun lube (thinking it was instant tea from mre,) mixed in a unlabeled gatoraid bottle sitting right there looking tasty after a long firemission that got me medivacced by air shutting my gun section down to go get my stomach pumped at 29 palms base hospital. Roughly other than normal minor scrapes that was about it. I ignored alot of things as most 0811s tend to Doane completed my time and separated honorably from the corps to be employed as a civilian contractor for the dod at yuma proving grounds yuma azwithin a week of separating from the marines. There I tested and developed various weapon systems the govt had Interests in to include the lightweight howitzerprogram, Stryker vehicles , crusader program and ammunition lot testing as well as accident recreation testing. For about a year I had been out in yuma after separating things going good when while off duty, out of the blue , I felt hot flashes and swatting so profusely I actually went to sit in the ac inside my car thinking I was experiencing a heat related issue, it seemed to work so I returned to what I was doing when it hit me again but this time something said stop everything, I explained to my date that I had to either leave her or take her home and that something was wrong. I dropped her off at home and made it two blocks from her house and pull3d over at the gas station and proceeded to call 911 explaining that I was sure what was happening , that all I knew was my stomach hurt more than anything I've ever felt in my life even still to present, and I fell out my car unconscious while still on the line with the dispatcher.
When I regained consciousness, I was in the er operatingroom in unbelievable pain culed in a ball , and even after all the pain mess that can legally be administered, I still couldn't unfold not until I had finally passed out again but from the epidural this time, yup, pregnant lady medicine that put me down just to get mri or cat scanned, not sure which, I regained consciousness yet again to be told that I needed Tobe operated on immediatly and I responded to the doctor, "well can it wait til this weekend? Because I've got to working had a big testing shoot the remainder of that work week" and he told me that It being Wednesday night already that i would not make it til Friday alive if this operation didn't happen immediately. I was still confused with no real reason as to what was happening and it was now past that and I was actually a day away from death and waiting for a reason why quickly became irrelevant for obvious reasons. So I had then at 23 something hours, I called my supervisor with no clear reson to justify anything yet and told him that I regretfully was calling in sick and handed the phone to the operating surgeon to explain things and mostly due to the pain following loss of consciousness yet again.
When I regained consciousness, I couldn't walk, I had a foot of staples across my stomach and attached to a morphine drip while they starved me for the next 7 days feeding only ice chips, I lost all my muscle mass and 30lbs in those 7 days, after being discharged I filed forshortterm disability that really never came and forced my early return to work 3 1/2 months early ot of 6 month estimated recovery time even with staples still in my gut. Upon post operation check up , the surgeon was baffled by my case stating he shouldn't be seeing someone y9ung as I was and that what caused this episode was gastenteritus which old people usually are seen with that kind of thing. That's the explanationg I received and to this day haven't heard anything in the contrary. After that with only a few nuerolgical issues yet to be explained but not clicking that there could be any relationship to or with, delt with them as they arose, fasfwrding to present day , I had my teeth all pulled due to weak enamel and breaking again not realizing anything could be related just dealt with it.
Now I say all this because I'm not sure about this stuff but the more I read the more over things are clicking and starting to fit, making sense more each day. It starts to give me answers to almost everything I've been through since living at camp lejeuene all the way til now. The thing is that with all I've listed is that I don't fall into the timeliness requirement for the claim being that I didn't get stationed there til late 95 , although I was living at ground zero where the contamination was but supposedly cleaned up by time I arrived( alledgedly)
We all know how that goes lol.
So to sum it all up I'm still clueless as to what If any action I should do or look into about this or whom even wants to listen to a gunrock cry about things he really can't explain medically or with knowledgeable medical logic, what I do know is that I've experience a good deal of issues that til now after reading info about camp lejeune, things for the first time seem to fit making sense for medically since it all began. So here i am a lil bit more informed but still stuck on what to do if anything to figure out how connected any of this could be even considering that I don't fit within the years provided with the timeline of alleged exposure that are currently admitted, since I don't fit those years, a couple things come to mind as I process things while my confidence that I've gained grows that my medical issues finally have reasoning the more I find out Is that could the timeline not be truely accurate? Was the contamination truely cleaned up? Can u clean up "forever chemicals" are there other like me in this situation? Does or should the government know? If they know , what could that ultimately imply?
Not sure about which to even start with and by now anyone that is still reading to this point that has any advise is probably tired of hearing this old gunrock whine about stillbeing alive, but if you have some guidance/advice suggestions or even something just plain ol funny to say, please by all means respond, contact, comment freely and dont put any sugar on it. Im really just stuckon whereto go, who to talkto, or what step to take with it all. Thanksforyourtime and any thoughts about what I should do
******
Respectfully submitted
Sgt Jesse goodney
Usmc95-03 k3/10 2mardiv