Chemicals linked to male breast cancer, but which ones?
Few details about the chemicals that the men with breast cancer drank in their water while at the Camp Lejeune marine base makes this otherwise exceptional article seem murky and vague.
An article by William Levesque of the St. Petersburg Times describes a frightening potential cluster of breast cancer cases in men. These men strongly suspect that chemicals in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune, a marine base in North Carolina, caused their cancer.
Mike Partian, who was diagnosed with the disease at 39, is now working diligently to locate other men with the condition who lived on the base. His efforts have been fruitful, and he has found nine others, a startling discovery that has attracted the attention of scientists.
Although the article does a wonderful job of capturing the human interest angle of Partian and his ambitious quest, it is unfortunately light on the science of how the water became contaminated, if it is now considered "uncontaminated," and what Partian and his neighbors might have been exposed to.
The article states that the water was tainted with carcinogens for 30 years but does not name any of the chemicals. Midway through the article, they are identified as “industrial solvents.” Thousands of compounds could fit that description, so it leaves the reader wondering what they might be. According to a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences about Camp Lejeune's drinking water, the two most notable are trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE). PCE is commonly used by dry cleaners.
How – or why – the contamination stopped is also not explained. Many carcinogens have long half lives, so it is possible that the chemicals are still in the water supply. This possibility was not discussed. It turns out that the contaminated wells were closed in 1985. This information is important to residents currently living on or near Camp Lejeune.
Overall, the article does a great job of drawing attention to this case and making people aware of what happened at Camp Lejeune. More men might come forward as a result of the article, a laudable achievement which would no doubt help scientists explore a possible link between contaminated water and breast cancer risk.
