Federal Study Links Camp Lejeune Water Contamination to Increased Cancer Risk

A comprehensive study finds elevated cancer risks among those stationed at Camp Lejeune, though definitive causation remains unproven.

Military personnel stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1975 to 1985 had at least a 20% higher risk for a number of cancers than those stationed elsewhere, according to a federal health study.
The study compared about 211,000 people at Camp Lejeune to about 224,000 at Camp Pendleton, finding higher risks for leukemia, lymphoma, and cancers of the lung, breast, throat, esophagus, and thyroid at Lejeune.
The research, one of the largest of its kind in the U.S., does not definitively prove that the contaminated water caused the cancers but adds weight to arguments for those affected.
A federal law signed by President Joe Biden in August 2022 gives Camp Lejeune victims a two-year window to file claims for health problems believed to be linked to the water contamination.
The study's findings may lead to the inclusion of thyroid cancer in the list of diseases for which Camp Lejeune personnel and their families might be compensated.