White House Water Samples Sent to Lab for Tests

Samples of water from the White House and the vice presidential residence have been collected and have been sent to a laboratory for further analysis, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Friday.

White House doctors ordered the tests last week to see if the water contained chemicals that might have caused autoimmune-system disorders in the President, his wife, Barbara, and their dog, Millie.

Fitzwater said the preliminary judgment of Dr. Burton Lee III, the President’s chief physician, is that the water contains nothing abnormal, “but we still have to have a panel of experts analyze it before we render a final judgment.”

Kim Walsh, an aide to Marilyn Quayle, said the vice president’s wife was anxiously awaiting results of the tests. “The testing is not yet complete,” she said.

Walsh said the Quayles also have been encouraged to take blood tests to ensure that they have not contracted Graves’ disease or a similar ailment.

The Bushes lived in the vice presidential residence for eight years before moving to the White House.

Analysts are looking for traces of iodine or lithium, two chemicals that have been linked to thyroid disorders.

Both the President and Mrs. Bush have Graves’ disease, an autoimmune system disease that causes the thyroid to produce too much hormone. Millie has lupus, another autoimmune disorder.

Bush told reporters earlier this week that the chances were about “1 in 20 million” that three members of the same household would have the same ailment.