The water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina has been linked to at least eight serious diseases, ranging from several types of cancer to Parkinson’s disease and blood disorders. The contamination lasted roughly three decades, from August 1953 through December 1987, exposing up to a million service members, civilian workers, and their families to dangerous levels of industrial chemicals in their drinking water.
The Eight Presumptive Conditions
The VA recognizes eight diseases as presumptively connected to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. If you served or lived on base during the contamination period and later developed one of these conditions, the VA considers the disease service-connected without requiring you to prove a direct link. Those conditions are:
- Bladder cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Adult leukemia
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
- Parkinson’s disease
Seven of these eight are cancers or blood disorders. Parkinson’s disease is the sole neurological condition on the list, though it is one of the most well-studied links.
What Was in the Water
Two water systems on the base, Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace, were contaminated with volatile organic compounds. The primary culprits were trichloroethylene (TCE), a degreasing solvent used in industrial operations on the base, and tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a dry-cleaning chemical that seeped into the groundwater from an off-base dry cleaner. The water also contained vinyl chloride, benzene, and a breakdown product called trans-1,2-dichloroethylene.
The contamination levels were severe. TCE concentrations in the Hadnot Point water system peaked at 783 micrograms per liter in November 1983, far above the current federal safety limit of 5 micrograms per liter. Vinyl chloride reached 67 micrograms per liter, and benzene hit 12 micrograms per liter. These chemicals were present in the water people drank, cooked with, and bathed in for years before the contamination was identified and the wells were shut down in 1985.
Kidney and Bladder Cancer
A large federal morbidity study by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) confirmed that the contaminated drinking water increased the risk of both kidney and bladder cancer. Exposure to TCE and PCE together was associated with higher rates of kidney cancer in both Marines and civilian base employees. The risk climbed with higher levels of exposure, meaning people who drank the water longer or during peak contamination periods faced the greatest danger.
Bladder cancer followed a similar pattern. PCE exposure was linked to increased bladder cancer risk in Marines, while combined TCE and PCE exposure raised risk among civilian workers. The same study also found elevated rates of kidney disease, not just cancer, suggesting the chemicals caused broader damage to kidney function over time.
Blood Cancers and Bone Marrow Disorders
Three of the eight presumptive conditions involve the blood and bone marrow: adult leukemia, multiple myeloma, and aplastic anemia along with related myelodysplastic syndromes. Benzene is a well-established cause of blood cancers. It damages bone marrow cells, disrupting normal blood cell production and potentially triggering leukemia. Multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, are also on the list.
Aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndromes are conditions where the bone marrow fails to produce enough healthy blood cells. People with these disorders can experience severe fatigue, frequent infections, and uncontrolled bleeding. In some cases, myelodysplastic syndromes progress to leukemia.
Liver Cancer and Liver Disease
Vinyl chloride is the chemical most strongly tied to liver damage from the Camp Lejeune water supply. When the body processes vinyl chloride, it creates reactive byproducts that can damage DNA in liver cells and trigger cancer. At high exposure levels, vinyl chloride is associated with angiosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the blood vessels in the liver.
The liver damage from vinyl chloride isn’t limited to cancer. Research shows it can also cause fatty liver disease, inflammation, fibrosis, and tissue death in the liver. Even exposure levels below current workplace safety limits can sensitize the liver to other stressors, potentially accelerating liver disease in people who also have risk factors like a high-fat diet or alcohol use.
Parkinson’s Disease
A 2023 cohort study published in JAMA Neurology examined over 340,000 service members and found that Camp Lejeune veterans had a 70% higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease compared to Marines stationed at a base with uncontaminated water. TCE is the suspected driver. The chemical is fat-soluble, meaning it can cross into the brain, where it appears to damage the cells that produce dopamine, the neurotransmitter that controls movement.
Parkinson’s disease typically develops years or even decades after exposure, which made it harder to connect to the contaminated water for a long time. The disease causes progressive tremor, stiffness, slowness of movement, and balance problems. Its inclusion on the VA’s presumptive list was a significant acknowledgment that toxic exposures can cause neurological disease, not just cancer.
Birth Defects and Childhood Health
The contamination also affected children born to families living on base. An ATSDR study found that mothers exposed to TCE and benzene during their first trimester of pregnancy had higher rates of neural tube defects in their babies. Neural tube defects are serious conditions that affect the brain and spinal cord, including spina bifida and anencephaly. The risk of neural tube defects increased with higher levels of TCE exposure during that critical first trimester.
Researchers also found weaker associations between first-trimester exposure to PCE and vinyl chloride and childhood blood cancers like leukemia, though the evidence was less definitive. Exposure to the contaminated water did not appear to increase the risk of oral clefts. For childhood cancers, later exposures during the second and third trimesters or the first year of life did not show the same associations.
Conditions Beyond the Presumptive List
The eight presumptive conditions are not the only health problems linked to Camp Lejeune’s water. The ATSDR morbidity study also identified elevated rates of kidney disease among exposed individuals. Many former residents and workers have reported other conditions, including breast cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and various autoimmune disorders. These conditions are not currently on the VA’s presumptive list, which means veterans and family members seeking benefits for them face a higher burden of proof. However, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act opened a pathway for affected individuals to file claims for harm related to the water contamination, covering a broader range of health conditions than the VA’s presumptive list alone.