The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has withdrawn it’s controversial report  that downplayed the risks of chemicals found in the water supply of Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina. The report is being pulled due to factual omissions and scientific inaccuracy.

The report acknowledged the presence of chemical contamination in Lejeune’s water supply. Chlorinated hydrocarbons, as well as the chemicals tetrachloroethyline (PCE), a dry-cleaning solvent, and trichlorehylene (TCE), a degreaser, were present in water used for housing, schools and swimming pools on the base.

The report blatantly downplayed the risks that the known carcinogens posed to the 150,000 people living on and around the base saying that adults faced "no increased cancer risk," and that children were "unlikely" to contract cancers as a result of exposure to the water. At the same time, another section of the report stated that cancer risks were "unknown."

According to the Associated Press, ATSDR is pulling the report because:
 

• it omitted that high levels of the cancer-causing chemical benzene were found in a base well. Also, researchers never tried to verify whether benzene had reached the drinking water;
• contaminating solvents that officials focused on have been characterized by new science as even more likely to cause cancer;
• the study underestimated the extent of the contamination on the base housing areas due to inadequate information from the Marines.

The omission of the benzene discovery and subsequent failure to follow up on that discovery, is a chilling indication of top level disregard for the health of enlisted men and women, and their families, at Camp Lejeune. Benzene has long been classified as a  human carcinogen and has been linked to aplastic anemia, myelodysplatic syndromes, acute myelogenous leukemia, and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Lawsuits seeking $33 billion in damages have been filed against the U.S. government by veterans who allege they were sickened by the water. Veterans groups have long disputed the findings of the discredited report.

Tags: "aplastic anemia" "myelodysplastic syndromes" "non-Hodgkins lymphoma" "acute myelogenous leukemia" "The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry " ATSDR "Camp Lejeune", Benzene, Information-News, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry