Tag Archives: pesticide

According to Fox News, burning coal indoors may lead to birth defects. Chinese researchers Zhiwen Li and colleagues at the Peking University Health Science Center found that the odds of having birth defects such as neural tube defects are 60 percent higher for children whose mothers inhaled coal smoke than for the children of unexposed mothers. A World Health Organization report estimated that 90 percent of rural homes use coal for cooking and heating. While coal is inexpensive compared to other energy sources, it has been linked to various illnesses including lung cancer and respiratory diseases. The researchers said that indoor air pollution caused by coal burning at home is a major public health concern. Coal smoke contains chemicals known to cause health problems, including arsenic, carbon monoxide and lead. The Chinese researchers focused on rural counties that rely on use of coal for cooking and heating and where the…
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InjuryBoard, researchers have found that the ingredient in popular pesticide Roundup may cause birth defects. A report published by Earth Open Source says that the European Commission has previously ignored or dismissed many other findings from the independent scientific literature showing that Roundsup and glyphosate cause endocrine disruption, damage to DNA, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, cancer and birth defects. Roundup is a broad-spectrum herbicide sold under the Roundup brand and the generic name of glyphosate. Use of Roundup is widespread not only in consumer applications but also in commercial agriculture. The report says that the European pesticide regulatory agency knew but failed to warn the public of Roundup’s effects. The effects are found at very low doses, comparable to levels of pesticide residues found in food and the environment. The researchers said that industry studies show that Roundup’s glyphosate causes birth defects in laboratory animals and that these adverse…
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According to the Science Fair, a study has found that mountaintop coal mining raises birth defects. Children born in mountaintop-mining communities may suffer elevated risks of birth defects. Nationwide, about 1 in 33 babies suffer a birth defects, which is also the leading cause of infant deaths. An upcoming Environmental Research journal study reports that children born in counties home to mountaintop coal mining had a 26% higher risk of suffering one of those birth defects, compared to non-mining communities. A number of studies has found health risks associated with coal mining regions, said the lead researcher. Mountaintop mining, where coal seams are exposed by blasting off the top of elevations, has been linked to air and water pollution. The study covered West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, where mountaintop mining occurs. Over the course of the study, mountaintop removal mining produced 882 million tons of coal from those four…
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