Do you think a chemical or contaminated water made you sick?

If you were exposed to a chemical at work, in your water supply, or in your community, and you believe it made you or a family member sick, you are in the right place.

Are you in an emergency right now?

• Call 911 if you are having trouble breathing or another severe reaction right now.
• Get away from the source of exposure if you can do it safely.
• Get medical care even if your symptoms seem mild.
• This page is for after you are safe.

This page covers toxic exposure claims and what to do right now. We are the injured person's advocate. We connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours, so you get the full settlement your recovery deserves. Always free. Talk to an advocate. We usually reply within minutes, at most one business day.

Toxic exposure cases (sometimes called toxic tort cases) are about proving that a chemical or contaminant caused an illness. This is different from most injury cases. A car crash injury usually happens once and is easy to connect to the event. A toxic exposure illness often takes months, years, or decades to appear, which makes proving the cause much harder.

Why proving toxic exposure causation is so hard

• General causation and individual causation are two separate hurdles. First, the science has to show that a chemical is capable of causing the illness at issue at all (general causation). Then, your own case has to show that your specific exposure caused your specific illness (individual causation, sometimes called specific causation). Both usually require expert evidence.
• Time works against you. The longer the gap between exposure and diagnosis, the harder it can be to gather records, locate witnesses, and prove exactly what you were exposed to and for how long.
• Government science takes time but carries real weight. Agencies like the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, part of the CDC) study contamination sites and publish health assessments. Their findings can become central evidence, but the studies themselves can take years to complete.
• One chemical, many possible illnesses. Depending on the chemical, dose, and length of exposure, health effects can range from mild to severe, and not everyone exposed develops the same condition. This makes each case genuinely individual.

A real example: Camp Lejeune

From the 1950s to 1985, drinking water at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina, was contaminated with chemicals including TCE (trichloroethylene), PCE, and benzene. The ATSDR studied the exposure for years and found links between the contaminants and elevated rates of certain illnesses among people who lived or worked there (ATSDR, About Camp Lejeune). In 2022, Congress passed a law finally allowing affected veterans, family members, and workers to file claims, and by mid-2024 courts had begun resolving individual settlements (ATSDR).

What real toxic exposure cases have paid

These are publicly reported results. They show how widely serious cases vary. They are examples only. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. No one can promise or predict what any case is worth, and many cases resolve for far less.

• The Department of Justice reported approving a historic number of Camp Lejeune settlements through its Elective Option program (U.S. Department of Justice).
• Under the Elective Option's tiered system, people with an illness the ATSDR has substantiated evidence for (Tier 1) can be offered $150,000 to $450,000 depending on how long they were exposed. People with illnesses that have possible evidence of a link (Tier 2) can be offered $100,000 to $400,000, and an additional $100,000 is offered if the exposure resulted in death (U.S. Department of Justice, Elective Option details).

Talk to an advocate. You do not have to sort out the science and the deadlines alone.

When it goes wrong: a true story

Marines, sailors, and their families lived at Camp Lejeune for decades without knowing their water was contaminated. Many only learned of a possible connection between their illness and their time at the base years or decades after they left, long after most legal deadlines would normally have closed. It took an act of Congress in 2022 to open a path to compensation (ATSDR).

The lesson is not that anyone waited too long by choice. Toxic exposure harm can stay hidden for years, which is exactly why the science and the legal process both need time, and why talking to an advocate about your deadlines matters.

What to do in the first days

1. Ask your doctor to document your symptoms and any suspected exposure history.
2. Talk to an advocate at WeHelpInjured. It is free.
3. Write down everywhere you may have been exposed: workplaces, water sources, military bases, or nearby industrial sites, along with dates if you can estimate them.
4. Look for official health studies on your exposure source. EPA and ATSDR both publish public site assessments.
5. Keep any records that show you were present at the location: employment records, base assignment records, utility bills, or lease records.
6. Warning: don't wait! Your filing deadline is a trap. Some toxic exposure claims run on regular state deadlines, and some, like Camp Lejeune, run on their own federal law with different rules, so assuming the wrong one applies can cost you the claim. And important: if your exposure led to a medical diagnosis, a separate, often shorter medical deadline may apply. Check your state on our state pages or talk to your advocate directly.

What we can help with

• Understanding what happened and what your rights are, in plain language.
• Making sense of government health studies that may relate to your exposure.
• Connecting you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours, so you get the full settlement your recovery deserves.

All of it is free to you. We never take money from injured people.

Talk to an advocate. Toxic exposure is confusing and the science moves slowly. Let us help you carry the rest.

Sources

• ATSDR, About Camp Lejeune: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/camp-lejeune/about/index.html
• ATSDR, Summary of the Water Contamination Situation at Camp Lejeune: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/camp-lejeune/about/summary-of-the-water-contamination-situation.html
• U.S. Department of Justice, historic number of Camp Lejeune settlements approved: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-approves-historic-number-settlements-camp-lejeune-victims-and-families
• U.S. Department of Justice, Elective Option announcement and tier details: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-and-department-navy-announce-voluntary-elective-option-more-efficient