Between 1957 and 1987, the drinking water at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina was contaminated with industrial chemicals, including the solvents trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE). It is estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million people may have used the contaminated water. Acting largely on the basis of Superfund Research Program (SRP) studies from Boston University (BU), an Institute of Medicine committee has recommended that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expand the range of conditions covered by legislation, providing health benefits to veterans and their families who were exposed to the contaminated drinking water.
To make their recommendations, the committee drew from studies conducted at BU by Patricia Janulewicz, Sc.D., assistant professor of environmental health and former SRP-trainee, and SRP project leader, Ann Aschengrau, Sc.D. The committee, which also includes Janulewicz, recommended that the VA consider adding several neurobehavioral effects to the clinical guidance, including those due to neural tube birth defects, adolescent and adult illicit drug use, bipolar disorder, and problems with contrast sensitivity and color discrimination.
See the BU website for more information.
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