Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Neural Tube Defects In US .75/1,000 Live Births; In Shanxi Province, 14/1,000 Live Births - Time

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
Home » Discuss » Topic Forums » Environment/Energy Donate to DU
 
hatrack Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-27-11 06:46 AM
Original message
Neural Tube Defects In US .75/1,000 Live Births; In Shanxi Province, 14/1,000 Live Births - Time
It's a very good thing that neural tube defects are relatively rare in the U.S., because they are very cruel conditions for a newborn to suffer. The two most common types of such birth defects are spina bifida – in which the backbone and spinal canal do not close properly — and anencephaly, in which a large portion of the brain and skull are simply missing. There are about 3,000 babies born in the U.S. with neural tube defects each year, or about .75 for every thousand live births.

The numbers are much grimmer in China, particularly in the Shanxi province, where there are roughly 14 neural-tube defect babies born per thousand. The Shanxi province is also flat-out filthy — an environmental disaster area, awash in what are known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which include various kinds of pesticides as well as byproducts of burning coal and oil. The association between environmental cause and birth defect effect seemed impossible to deny, but until now, a rigorous study of the link had not been fully conducted.

Now, thanks to a 10-year collaboration between investigators at the University of Texas at Austin and Peking University, it has, and the results are sobering. According to findings recently published the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Shanxi kids exposed to pesticides and fossil fuel pollutants in utero have a 450% increased risk of neural tube defects, compared to other, unexposed kids.

"We've suspected for a while that some of these pollutants are related to an increase in birth defects," says Richard Finnell, professor of nutritional sciences and lead author of the paper, "but we haven't always had the evidence to show it."

EDIT

http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/10/19/how-chinese-babies-pay-the-price-for-chinese-pollution/
Refresh | +3 Recommendations Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
phantom power Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-27-11 11:00 AM
Response to Original message
1. recommend
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
 
AlecBGreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-27-11 02:39 PM
Response to Original message
2. Shanxi is a environmental train wreck
It contains 1/3rd of all China's coal. Heavy industry & metal refining are two other big players. Groundwater pollution is also a big problem there IIRC. Thanks but no thanks. If you go to China, visit Guizhou :)





Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Thu Jan 02nd 2025, 11:42 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Topic Forums » Environment/Energy Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC