Health Survey (FAQs)

1. Why are you doing the health survey?
2. Who is being surveyed?/Who is eligible for the survey?
3. Why are you surveying former active duty and civilian workers from Camp Pendleton?
4. What conditions will the health survey ask about?
5. Why doesn't the survey ask about (particular condition)?
6. When will the health survey start?

1. Why are you doing the health survey?

On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. The Act requires ATSDR to develop a health survey of individuals possibly exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune.

Also, a panel of independent scientists convened by ATSDR in 2005 recommended that the agency conduct studies of mortality, cancer incidence and other health outcomes of interest at the base if feasible.

2. Who is being surveyed?/Who is eligible for the survey?

Anyone who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune during the period of drinking water contamination is eligible for the survey. However, many of these people cannot be identified by available records. The following groups that we identified using Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) records will be included in the health survey:

• former active duty marines who were stationed at Camp Lejeune anytime between June 1975 and December 1985
• civilian employees who worked at the base anytime between June 1974 to December 1985

We also have information on people who took part in the 1999-2002 ATSDR survey.

The survey will also be sent to anyone who registered with the USMC.

The survey will also be sent to a sample of former active duty and civilian workers from Camp Pendleton.

3. Why are you surveying former active duty and civilian workers from Camp Pendleton?

A sample of former active duty and civilian workers from Camp Pendleton is included because of a concern that most people at Camp Lejeune might have come into contact with the contaminated drinking water. Including an external, unexposed comparison group improves the credibility of the survey. It is important that the comparison group is similar in all respects to the Marines and civilian workers at Camp Lejeune except for exposure to VOC-contaminated drinking water.

4. What conditions will the health survey ask about?

The health survey will request information about cancers and other diseases that are thought to be related to exposures to the chemicals found in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune. These include:

• aplastic anemia
• bladder cancer
• brain cancer
• breast cancer
• cervical cancer
• endometriosis
• esophageal cancer
• generalized skin disorders
• Hodgkin’s disease
• infertility
• kidney cancers
• kidney diseases
• leukemia
• liver cancer and liver disease
• lung cancer
• lupus
• motor neuron disease/ALS
• multiple myeloma
• multiple sclerosis
• non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• pancreatic cancer
• Parkinson’s disease
• scleroderma
• soft tissue sarcoma
• miscarriage

There will also be a space on the survey for people to report other diseases not specifically mentioned in the survey.

Most of the information we have about the health effects of these chemicals comes from studies of workers. That is, people who were exposed to these chemicals in the workplace. Very few studies have been done to evaluate the health effects of drinking water exposures to these chemicals.

5. Why doesn't the survey ask about (particular condition)?

An epidemiologic survey cannot accurately evaluate all diseases at once. A scientifically credible survey must limit its focus to diseases that it can reliably identify and confirm. This way, the survey can avoid serious errors and produce useful and accurate data. However, the survey does provide a space so that the respondent can report other disease conditions that were not specifically asked in the survey.

6. When will the health survey start?

The health survey is expected to start in Spring 2010, depending on Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. ATSDR will begin with a pilot study by mailing surveys to a sample (35,000 to 40,000) of those stationed at Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton any time during 1975-1985. The pilot will look at how well we can locate people, get them to participate, and confirm self-reported diseases. If the pilot is successful, the same methods will be used for the rest of the population. If the pilot is not successful, we will still mail surveys to everyone else at the end of the pilot. The surveys will be sent to everyone else beginning in March 2011.