Military looks for children hurt by PCE in water
Military looks for children hurt by PCE
in water
CAMP LEJEUNE, NC —An estimated 10,000 children born here from
1968 through 1985 may be at risk of cancer and birth defects
caused by drinking water containing dry-cleaning solvents.
The Marine Corps is trying to reach families stationed on the base,
whose water was contaminated with perchloroethylene and
trichloroethylene.
In 1998, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR) reported a possible link between the
contaminated water and birth defects. The agency wants to survey
the families to learn more about the long-term health effects of
exposure to volatile organic compounds in drinking water.
"The health and welfare of Marines and their families is very
important to us," said Col. Mike Lehnert, head of the Marine Corps'
Facilities and Services Division. "We have Marine families with
questions that cannot be answered unless the survey is completed,
so it is very important to us that we do everything possible to help
the ASTR reach as many of the former residents as we can."
According to the Associated Press, an Army team discovered the
pollution in 1980, but the affected wells were not taken out of use
until 1985. The government began contacting families last year.
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Edited from Tech Bank 11/03/2000