ATSDR -- FY 1999 AGENCY PROFILE AND ANNUAL REPORT
BIRTH DEFECTS AND REPRODUCTIVE DISORDERS
Risk slightly increased for birth defects
Birth Defects Among Children of Racial or Ethnic Minority Born to
Women Living in Close Proximity to Hazardous Waste Sites--California,
19831988. This population-based, case-control study evaluated the
relationship between birth defects in racial or ethnic minority children (i.e.,
Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native,
Asian/Pacific Islander) and their potential exposure to contaminants from NPL
sites in California. Almost 14,000 racial or ethnic minority infants with major
structural birth defects were included in the study, which covered the period
19831988. Case subjects were identified by the California Birth Defects
Monitoring Program. For comparison, a control group of about 14,500 infants
was randomly selected from vital records of infants not reported to the birth
defects monitoring program.
The study found that racial or ethnic minority infants whose mothers had
lived in a census tract with an NPL site were at slightly increased risk for birth
defects. The risk was highest for neural tube defects and musculoskeletal
defects. In the analyses by racial or ethnic group, all groups except Black/
African American had an increased risk for neural tube defects. The study also
found that there was a significantly elevated risk for anencephaly among
infants whose mothers lived near sites contaminated by volatile organic
compounds, pesticides, or cyto-oxidase inhibitors (cyanides and hydrogen
sulfide). Only Blacks/African Americans were at increased risk for integument
defects, and only American Indians/Alaska Natives were at increased risk for
oral clefts. Conotruncal heart defects and all heart or circulatory defects were
not elevated in any group.
Waste sites and hazardous materials are often located in ethnic and racial
minority communities. The potential impact these have on minority
populations is of concern, especially when these groups already face many
social and economic disadvantages that place them at risk for adverse
pregnancy outcomes. Previous studies have linked various adverse
reproductive health effects, including low birth weight and birth defects, with
potential exposure to substances from hazardous waste sites.
Iodine-131 may be associated with preterm birth
Hanford Infant Mortality and Fetal Death Analysis, 19401952. People
living in communities surrounding the Hanford Department of Energy facility
in southeastern Washington were exposed to radionuclides, particularly
iodine-131, during 1945 through 1951. This study was conducted to determine
if exposure to iodine-131 (estimated through exposure dose reconstruction)
was a risk factor for infant mortality, fetal death, and preterm birth in the years
of highest releases from Hanford, 1945 and 1946.
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