According to CHRON, Texas state officials and Texas A&M are investigating a sharp increase in the presence of frequently fatal birth defects in southeast part of the state. The affected area is where thousands of residents were evacuated from due to a chemical company fire two years ago.
State officials and Bryan-College Station recorded five cases of the chromosomal disorder trisomy 18 in the seven months after a 2009 blaze at El Dorado Chemical Co fire that burned fertilizer and shut down the Texas A&M campus. Before the fire, only eight cases of the birth defect were recorded in the decade before the fire. The disorder is associated with severe intellectual disability and abnormal organ development. The disorder is also known as the Edwards syndrome, which leads to life-threatening health problems and kills about 90 percent of children born with the defect before they reach their first birthday.
The Texas state health officials say they are very interested in speaking with the families who recently had children diagnosed with the disorder. The Texas Department of State Health Services is looking into the increase in chromosomal disorder trisomy 18. Some suspect the fire that burned the unknown amount of fertilizer was a massive chemical release. The vice president of the chemical company said that the company plans to hire independent researchers to examine data collected by the state’s birth defect registry. The officials are also looking into the number of miscarriages since the fire, as most fetuses with trisomy 18 are not carried to full term. So far, it has been reported that three women miscarried around the time.
