WA: Mysterious cluster of severe birth defects near Hanford is confounding health experts

[Emily]

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/bizarre-cluster-severe-birth-defects-haunts-health-experts-n24986

By JoNel Aleccia

A mysterious cluster of severe birth defects in rural Washington state is confounding health experts, who say they can find no cause, even as reports of new cases continue to climb.

Federal and state officials won?t say how many women in a three-county area near Yakima, Wash., have had babies with anencephaly, a heart-breaking condition in which they?re born missing parts of the brain or skull. And they admit they haven't interviewed any of the women in question, or told the mothers there's a potentially widespread problem.

But as of January 2013, officials with the Washington state health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had counted nearly two dozen cases in three years, a rate four times the national average.

Since then, one local genetic counselor, Susie Ball of the Central Washington Genetics Program at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, says she has reported ?eight or nine? additional cases of anencephaly and spina bifida, another birth defect in which the neural tube, which forms the brain and spine, fails to close properly.

?It does strike me as a lot,? says Ball...

Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties:
http://www.yakimaherald.com/home/1327510-8/state-says-no-cause-found-for-birth-defect

Can't help but wonder about the proximity to Hanford:





A Hanford whistle blower was just fired:
http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/1940295-8/safety-whistle-blower-fired-from-hanford-nuclear-site

 

[Emily]

Re: WA: Mysterious cluster of severe birth defects near Hanford is confounding health experts

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/03/04/increase-rare-birth-defects-in-washington-state-has-experts-stumped/?intcmp=trending

?If I was going to have a theory, I would say there?s something agricultural, like [new] pesticides or insecticides, which are known to cause neural defects,? Barron said. ?It?s a random guess, but all these women are so extremely rural. Maybe it?s mosquito sprays, because the likelihood is high of them being in the fields or exposed to husbands in the field. Plus these were all upstream and way upwind, so it?s not radiation from Handford ? a big nuclear facility in the area.?

...

?I wish they could have done more?I know the state looked at drinking water and well water, and they said there was no difference between healthy deliveries and abnormal deliveries,? Barron said. ?But because we didn?t do any interviews with the women, we don?t know for sure what water these women were drinking when they conceived. Even in medical records, we don?t necessarily know how early they started taking folic acid. We don?t know for sure what they were taking and when."

Sara Barron is the highly experienced nurse who discovered the cluster. The tough thing about the pesticide theory, (and probably why Sara Barron is thinking this might be a new chemical), is finding something unique about the exposure in this area vs other agricultural areas. Hanford is the only unique exposure I know of in this area, though perhaps a new ag chemical or application method was tested in area. Walla Walla is to the usual downwind side of Hanford, though once and awhile we get variations in the prevailing winds. Even more I'd wonder about anomalous groundwater flow. This doc is from DOE/RL-2008-66, Rev. 0:

North of Gable Butte and Gable Mountain, groundwater flow directions vary from northwest to east depending on the location. Groundwater enters this region through the gaps between Gable Mountain, Gable Butte, and Umtanum Ridge, as well as from natural recharge. The Columbia River also recharges the unconfined aquifer west of the 100‑B/C Area. Water flowing north through Gable Gap spreads out and flows north‑northwest toward the Columbia River, as well as toward the
northeast and east along the north side of Gable Mountain. Recharge water from the Columbia River and the gap between Umtanum Ridge and Gable Butte is thought to flow east toward the 100‑B/C Area and discharge to the river. In the 100 Area, the local groundwater flow is generally toward the Columbia River, although this pattern is altered by pump‑and‑treat remediation systems in the 100‑K, 100‑D, and 100‑H Areas. Between the 100‑D and 100‑H
Areas, groundwater flow is toward the northeast.
An apparent groundwater mound exists ~2 km north of Gable Mountain and is
associated with low conductivity Ringold Formation mud at the water table. This mound is contoured as if it were part of the unconfined aquifer (Figure 2.1‑2), but it could represent a perched water table above the regional water table. More data is needed to distinguish between these alternatives. Water‑level elevations indicate that groundwater moving east along Gable Mountain flows around this apparent mound.
South of Gable Butte and Gable Mountain, natural recharge to the aquifer
comes from the Cold Creek Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Rattlesnake Hills, Yakima
River, and infiltrating precipitation. Groundwater generally flows from west to east, although some of the flow from the 200 West Area or north of the 200 West Area turns north and flows through Gable Gap.

This is a great suggestion by Barron:

With so much mystery surrounding these anencephaly cases, Barron believes that more could ultimately be done to get to the root of the problem. She argued that health officials could utilize student researchers to conduct the investigation or interview mothers in the area.

 

[Emily]

Re: WA: Mysterious cluster of severe birth defects near Hanford is confounding health experts

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/washington-state-officials-baffled-mysterious-rise-birth-defects-counties-article-1.1793377

Washington state mom whose child was diagnosed with fatal spine disease pledges to continue pregnancy
Jocelyn Robles, a Yakima county woman, is determined to see her baby, 'at least for a little bit.' Dozens of other unborn and newborn children in Washington?s Benton, Yakima and Franklin counties have been born with devastating neural tube defects and state officials have so far been unable to figure out why.
BY Carol Kuruvilla
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, May 15, 2014, 12:27 PM

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-sty...ects-counties-article-1.1793377#ixzz31ohxLBIR

http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/yhr/wednesday/2176832-8/anencephaly-listening-session-health-officials-field-questions-about

Anencephaly listening session: Health officials field questions about fatal birth defect
Posted on May 14, 2014

 

[Pathfinder]

Originally published February 14, 2015 at 3:51 PM
| Page modified February 14, 2015 at 8:30 PM

Fatal birth defect stalks 3 Central Wash. counties

As a mysterious cluster of rare birth defects grows in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties, state health officials are conducting first interviews with women who lost babies to the devastating disorder known as anencephaly.

By JoNel Aleccia
Seattle Times health reporter
...
Since Jan. 1, investigators have talked to 10 mothers who have carried babies with anencephaly, which causes infants to be delivered missing parts of the brain and skull.

Eventually, officials plan to speak to more of the nearly 40 women included so far in the mysterious cluster of birth defects...

So far the problem has stumped local, regional and national experts, who say they can find no cause for the increase.
...
?This is a really concerning health issue for us,? said Dr. Kathy Lofy, the state health officer. ?It?s a high priority for our department.?
...
From January 2010 to October 2014, 38 cases were reported in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties. As of 2013, the latest year of full records, that translated to a rate of about 11.1 cases for every 10,000 live births ? more than five times the national rate of 2.1 cases per 10,000.
...
Full text:
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025702440_birthdefectclusterxml.html

 

[Emily]

http://www.opb.org/news/article/birth-defect-investigation-finds-no-answers/

[h=1]Birth Defect Investigation Offers No Answers To Grieving Families In E. Washington[/h] by Courtney Flatt Follow NWPR/EarthFix | May 11, 2017 9:45 a.m. | Prosser, Washington

...

Environmental factors?
But some people think there?s more that could be done.

Sara Barron, the nurse who originally reported the elevated levels of anencephaly, wonders if there might be more connection to rural areas.

She pointed to a map on her computer screen. Barron said other anencephaly clusters across the country also appear to be in less populated areas.

?In our counties, it was the farmworkers as well as the farm owners that were getting the anencephaly. It was not economic. It was not race. It was not necessarily by diet. So there?s something else out there that?s related, and we don?t know what it is,? Barron said...

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Roundup_of_Roundup.php

[h=1]A Roundup of Roundup? Reveals Converging Pattern of Toxicity from Farm to Clinic to Laboratory Studies[/h] We need to ban glyphosate from our own communities as most governments fail to protect citizens Dr Eva Sirinathsinghji

...
The US has seen a surge in neural tube birth defects (anencephaly) in the Yakima River, Washington State. The source remains a mystery to officials who have ruled out common causes such as low folic acid and lifestyle choices. Rates have reached 8 cases per 10 000 births from 2010-2013 compared to a national average of 3 cases per 10 000 births. Glyphosate has emerged as a prime suspect as the state of Washington use herbicides, most often glyphosates, to kill noxious weeds in both land and water. An estimated 146 pesticides were applied in the area in the year 2000, and studies are now needed to confirm whether or not glyphosate, either alone or in combination with other chemicals is responsible for neural tube defects in the area [19]....