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Article: Toxic waste landfill sites may cause birth defects
- Article from:
- The Scotsman
- Article date:
- August 7, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1998 The Scotsman. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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WOMEN who live within two miles of toxic landfill sites have an
increased chance of having children with birth defects, scientists
have found.
The incidence of birth deformities such as spina bifida, holes in
the heart and artery malformations increased by up to 33 per cent for
women close to the dumps.
The medical journal, the Lancet, reports on work by a team of
researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
which investigated the incidence of birth defects around 21
industrial landfill sites in the UK, Belgium, France, Denmark and
Italy.
They identified 1,089 live and still births and pregnancy
terminations in which birth defects were seen where the mother lived ...