Did tap water at N.C. Marine base cause men to develop breast cancer?

Michael Partin was 39 years old when he was diagnosed with breast cancer, a disease that affects only 2,000 men in the U.S. every year. Partin believes that his rare cancer was caused by his exposure to contaminated tap water as an infant at Camp Lejeune Marine base in North Carolina.

At least 40 former U.S. Marines or sons of Marines who lived at Camp Lejeune have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

According to CNN:

Partin said that during his mother's pregnancy, the family was exposed to high levels of tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, dichloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride in the tap water at the military base.

For three decades, from the 1960s to the 1980s, Camp Lejeune's drinking water was contaminated with carcinogens, specifically "industrial solvents dumped by the Marines and a dry-cleaning business, investigators say," according to the St. Petersburg Times, which wrote about Partin earlier this summer. More than 1 million people living and working at Camp Lejeune were exposed to the contaminated tap water.

It's quite likely that during the time they were drinking this contaminated water, the Marines, their families and base employees were told by the government that the tap water was safe. Clearly, such official assurances are not always true.

In two independent studies, the government found no link between the tap water contamination and the men's breast cancer, and experts have warned that showing cause and effect may be difficult. Meanwhile, North Carolina senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan are backing a bill that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to cover the medical costs of Marines and their families who were exposed to the contaminated water.