Oral

This session will discuss ATSDR’s research activities at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. From the 1950s through the mid-1980s, individuals residing or working at Camp Lejeune were potentially exposed to drinking water contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) was detected in one distribution system at 215 ppb and trichloroethylene (TCE) was detected in another distribution system at 1,400 ppb. The heavily contaminated wells were shut down in February 1985. The first presenter will discuss site background, details about the drinking water contamination, and the results of (1) a study evaluating maternal exposure to the drinking water contaminants at the base and adverse reproductive outcomes and (2) a study of specific birth defects and childhood cancers among births occurring during 1968-1985 to mothers residing at the base anytime during their pregnancy. The second presenter will discuss two new studies at the base that began in 2009: a health survey study and a morality study. There is a lack of historical, contaminant-specific sample data at the base. The third presenter will present historical water modeling results on the single species VOC contaminants found at Camp Lejeune using cutting-edge, ground water fate and transport and distribution system models. The fourth presenter will present historical water modeling results on the degradation by products of the VOC contaminants found at Camp Lejeune. This is the first time an epidemiologic study has utilized estimates of historical drinking water contaminant concentration levels obtained through sophisticated ground water fate and transport and distribution system modeling methods.

Session Objectives: 1. Describe ATSDR’s exposure and health research activities at Camp Lejeune 2. Understand the complexities of conducting historical reconstruction of drinking water contaminant levels using state-of-the-art modeling and uncertainty analysis techniques

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)