Marines who served at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in the 1970s and 1980s have developed Parkinson’s disease at a much higher rate than those who served at Camp Pendleton, Calif., a study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found. (U.S. Marine Corps)
Marines who served at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in the 1970s and 1980s have developed Parkinson’s disease at a much higher rate than those who served at Camp Pendleton, Calif., a study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found.
Medical researchers looking at the link between trichloroethylene, a widely spread toxic chemical known as TCE, and Parkinson’s disease found Marines and Navy sailors who served at Camp Lejeune between 1975 and 1985 were 70% more likely to develop Parkinson’s than those who served at the California base, according to the study. Though Camp Lejeune’s water supply was known to be contaminated at that time with TCE among other toxic chemicals, Camp Pendleton’s water supply was clean, the researchers wrote.
The study is the latest to spotlight the toxic water supply at Camp Lejeune from the 1950s into the late 1980s that exposed as many as 1 million service members and civilians to contaminants linked to neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s, cancers, reproductive issues and other health defects.
Researchers analyzed medical records for more than 340,000 troops in the study, which were provided by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR. They wrote that they looked at data for those who served between 1975 and 1985 because it was the period when the water at Camp Lejeune was the most contaminated — with median levels of TCE in base water more than 70-fold higher than considered safe by the federal government.
TCE is a solvent used for dry cleaning clothes, degreasing metals and decaffeinating coffee. It has been linked to neurological disorders since the 1960s, according to the American Medical Association. TCE has been banned in New York and Minnesota and parts of Europe. The study describes it as an “ubiquitous environmental contaminant” that could have exposed millions of people worldwide to elevated Parkinson’s risk and could have contributed to a global rise in the disease, which causes uncontrollable movements such as shaking and stumbling.
Camp Lejeune veterans who have developed Parkinson’s after serving at least 30 days at the base can be compensated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Civilian employees and military family members, however, must file a lawsuit against the government to receive compensation through the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, or PACT Act, passed last year.
The study published Monday did not look at civilian data.
The VA and the Defense Department were listed as providing funding for the new study, but those departments did not participate in the research, according to the study.
The VA has encouraged veterans who served at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987, and their family members to apply for care and benefits at VA.gov/CampLejeune.
Briana De Miranda, an assistant professor of neurology and pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told the Journal of the American Medical Association that the new study was “really, really valuable” and could help family members and civilians connected to Camp Lejeune who have or do develop Parkinson’s. She said she suspected disease rates among those linked to the base would continue to rise in the coming years.
“I suspect there is probably more Parkinson’s disease [connected to Camp Lejeune],” she said. “And I think there’s a lot more to come.”
