'Bizarre' Cluster of Severe Birth Defects Stuns Health Experts, Rural Washington Area

'Bizarre' Cluster of Severe Birth Defects Stuns Health Experts, Rural Washington Area
(source: nbcnews.com)

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.

The birth defects are very similar to those occurring in Iraq, after the US coalition forces used depleted uranium armaments on the populations there.

From other sources, I've listed possible agents that were suggested ;

Hanford Nuclear Reservation Superfund Site, Benford County

Publicintegrity.org - The mess gets worse at Hanford’s nuclear site - "A scientific dispute over the cleanup of one of the most polluted sites in the country threatens to ensnare the Energy Department’s new leadership"

"The agencies released a report last summer detailing an investigation of 27 women with pregnancies that resulted in neural tube defects in Yakima, Franklin and Benton counties between 2010 and 2013. That included 23 cases of anencephaly, a rate of 8.4 per 10,000 live births, far higher than the national rate of 2.1 cases per 10,000. There were three cases of spina bifida and one with encephalocele, a sac-like protrusion of the brain through the front or back of the skull.

More on Hanford superfund site here

Another possible suspect, in my opinion a serious candidate:

Yakima Training Center, WANG firing ranges (US Army)

Possible depleted uranium in use

Yakima Memorial Hospital is in close proximity to the Yakima military firing range. The cluster of defects began in 2010 (at least were noted then) and occur in a limited area.

Of course it could be a combination of the two. Sadly, these cases are being met with active denial by investigators, who appear to refuse to make any connections to the firing range or nuclear dump site.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer

Of course it could be a combination of the two.

Or, it could be something else entirely.

Sadly, these cases are being met with active denial by investigators

They are?

BTW, did you intentionally try to make it appear as if your second quote (from the article about birth defects) came from the article about the Hanford cleanup?

reply to post by Phage


My bad, the second quote came from the first link.

Phage
reply to post by Blackmarketeer

 

Sadly, these cases are being met with active denial by investigators

They are?

Based on the history of reporting regarding the Hanford site, yes;

• Inspector: Feds 'consistently in denial' at Hanford
  
• State blasts feds’ response to Hanford leak
  
• Hanford: Whistleblower files new complaint
  
• Hanford whistleblower loses job
  
• Wash. AG disappointed by Hanford cleanup delays
  
• New approach to problem-riddled Hanford cleanup
  
• Radiation leak detected at Hanford
  
• State inspectors document problems at Hanford
  
• Worst Hanford tank may be leaking into soil
  
• Feds: Hanford leaking tank won't be pumped until 2019
  
• Leak in Hanford double-shell tank getting worse
  
• Hanford officials hid leak evidence from advisory panel
  
• No plan in place when leak alarm sounded at Hanford
  
• Nuclear Cheerleaders Use Voodoo Science to Pretend Low Levels of Radiation Are Safe … Or Even Good For You

Ummm......yeah. Now this is very disturbing.

I grew up in Yakima and now live in Western Washington. I still have family in Yakima, Ellensburg and the tri-cities.

There is a long history in this region regarding mishandling (and possible intentional release) of radiation. There have always been rare cancers in people that grew up in the area back when Hanford released a huge dose of radiation...to see what would happen.

I am wondering how old these women are and if they were all born in this region, or their parents. Maybe this has something due to genetic damage. A thorough study needs to be done, obviously. If it really JUST spiked in the past three years, than it would be more likely a recent exposure. The base you mentioned IS close by, but it was there over thirty years ago when I was child. It's used mainly for field training out in the dessert region around it. I would absolutely suspect Hanford, and maybe ground water contamination possibly. I need to do some more searching for news links.

A lack of investigating would NOT be surprising. Last year, the fact that radioactive waste leaking out of storage tanks being ignored at Hanford was all over the news when the story was uncovered by a local news station. Since then? Hardly a word.

So after reading through the whole article, it seems pretty obvious to me that the most likely culprit is contamination of groundwater from pesticides. Problem is...there has NOT been a thorough investigation done. NONE of the women have been interviewed. NONE of the water they drank during their pregnancy has been tested.

How in the world has this been ignored? Crazy stuff.


Thanks to the OP for posting this. I will be sharing it with my friends and family to try and bring more awareness to the region. I will recommend that ANYONE there who is pregnant and on well water, to get it tested.

reply to post by westcoast


Anencephaly is extremely hard to view. Google images of "Yakima Washington birth defects" and compare to another area where DU was used, Iraq "Iraq birth defects", again, hard to view.

A third cause being suggested is glyphosate used in agriculture, with the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia rivers ending at the Yakima and Benton counties

Glyphosate, Brain Damaged Babies, and Yakima Valley – A River Runs Through It

This seems too isolated however to be related to Monsanto pesticides, as surely they are in use in a large number of cities, with nearby runoff and waterways. But then again...?

Hate to say it, but people living in that area are SOL.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer

Of course it could be a combination of the two. Sadly, these cases are being met with active denial by investigators, who appear to refuse to make any connections to the firing range or nuclear dump site.

Ofcourse they won't admit anything they are liable for...

Hanford is about 100 miles from Yakima. That particular culprit seems unlikely.

reply to post by westcoast


Indeed. Pesticides, or DU would be my guesses. I still won't rule out the training grounds. Would be nice to check and see if there are other clusters of health problems or birth defects. Even in livestock.

Blackmarketeer
Another possible suspect, in my opinion a serious candidate:

Yakima Training Center, WANG firing ranges (US Army)

Possible depleted uranium in use

Yakima Memorial Hospital is in close proximity to the Yakima military firing range. The cluster of defects began in 2010 (at least were noted then) and occur in a limited area.

Of course it could be a combination of the two. Sadly, these cases are being met with active denial by investigators, who appear to refuse to make any connections to the firing range or nuclear dump site.

But yet, a few dozen other places, where it's known that depleted uranium is in use aren't showing any sign of birth defect increases, or clusters like this. The Big Island of Hawaii used DU in the 60s to simulate Davy Crockett rounds being fired. Fort Knox and the training ranges around there, and everywhere else that uses the M1 Abrams uses DU on firing ranges, as does anywhere that allows live fire training with A-10 Warthogs.

I'm kind of curious what the location of the hospital has to do with it, as these birth defects would have to happen before the hospital came into it.

I'm willing to bet that it's far more likely to be tied to either pesticides, or the nuclear site than DU, with pesticides being a more likely candidate, since there doesn't appear to be an increase in illnesses that would be related to the nuclear site in the area.

This is a map of the affected area posted on another forum;



The military range and waste site are both close to the hospital. Most of the commentary regarding the Hanford site is that it is so out of control no one knows what to do about it.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Interesting. I have family up in that region and a couple decades ago, one of them gave birth to an encephalic child some 30 years ago. I was a kid myself at the time but I recall there was talk about it being because the mother was caught in a field during a pesticide spray. Kind of interesting that it's the same area though as my family's only encephalic birth. Ours, the baby was born with its brain partially outside of its head through an unclosed "soft spot". According to my grandpa, the excess brain tissue had to be removed and she was profoundly retarded by it and probably the surgery. I don't know if she's still alive as he was the only one that went out there to visit that part of the family but last I heard, she was still wearing a diaper and couldn't walk.

My deepest condolences to all the families affected and the children themselves. Sharing this because this would be around the same area (Benton/Franklin County) but 30 years ago. Our family's incident was tied to pesticides and that area is substantially farmland.

*Want to add though that the proximity to Hanford is really pretty close in my extended family's case. They're just to the east of it.

westcoast
So after reading through the whole article, it seems pretty obvious to me that the most likely culprit is contamination of groundwater from pesticides. Problem is...there has NOT been a thorough investigation done. NONE of the women have been interviewed. NONE of the water they drank during their pregnancy has been tested.

How in the world has this been ignored? Crazy stuff.


Thanks to the OP for posting this. I will be sharing it with my friends and family to try and bring more awareness to the region. I will recommend that ANYONE there who is pregnant and on well water, to get it tested.

edit on 17-2-2014 by westcoast because: (no reason given)

Hey, I was just looking at the map. I see on Google maps the grayed out area for Hanford a ways to the east, and then immediately to the east, another grayed out area marked as some kind of military firing range? Is that correct?

edit: Yes it is, I missed post by Zaphod58 above. see that post.

reply to post by Zaphod58


If it were tied to the pesticides alone, then wouldn't we logically be seeing an increase of similar birth defects in all rural communities and not just three? The NIH, in the case of birth defects in India, did note that a percentage of those birth defects were a combination of radiation and drug. Replace it with pesticide use and it could have a similar effect on a developing fetus that makes it more likely to develop a congenital birth defect through increased vulnerability.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

Alternatively, one could also argue that the same pesticide that was proclaimed responsible for my family's encephalic birth was dredged out of somebody's barn and used across the three county areas because of economic stress. Wouldn't be the first time that cutting corners cost dearly.

In either case, I hope they figure out what is causing these defects and quickly and fairly.

WhiteAlice
Alternatively, one could also argue that the same pesticide that was proclaimed responsible for my family's encephalic birth was dredged out of somebody's barn and used across the three county areas because of economic stress. Wouldn't be the first time that cutting corners cost dearly.

That wouldn't surprise me in the least. With the cost of shipping their product having gone up (a lot), I wouldn't be surprised if the big produce companies up there are cutting corners and have changed their pesticides in the last few years.

I'm not completely ruling out the nuclear site, as I've read a lot about it, and no one knows what's going on there, but to immediately go to DU from the firing range, when there are so many others in the US that are bigger or use more DU that don't show anything like this is a leap I'm not willing to take.

A lot of that area... is big farming country no doubt about it.....but these are clustered.....
Perhaps some more information would help......
What time period did these takes place over?
( I am thinking that it would be a help to date everything.....Hanfords news about "leaks or releases of radiologicals...."birth dates...
and other info regarding such things as any use of DU on the range as well as possibly dating the exercises when they took place as well as the type of DU fired...ie A10s, Or tanks or what....)
going back as far as possible to look for any pattern or correlationships....
Tho i have no skill to do it...a computer based search for related info such as other higher than normal incidents of such defects across the country...compared with an overlay of nuclear facilities etc....
It seems to me a statistical evaluation may reveal much....

reply to post by Zaphod58


I agree. Hanford would be a much more likely suspect. I know that our extended family drew their water supply from a well and Hanford has definitely leaked into the groundwater. She also was standing in the middle of one of their fields when a crop duster came by; hence the attribution of pesticide exposure towards our case. She never tried having another child again.

This article on the same subject brings up well use so that's interesting. Still doesn't point a direct finger at Hanford but Hanford is a huge problem and has been associated with health issues.

www.kvewtv.com...

Also found this NIH abstract on the incidence of neural tube defects for Benton and Franklin counties in 1988, which they said was statistically significant so that's very interesting. Hanford was put on record to be leaking in the mid 80's. My encephalic relative was born in the early 80's. There were stories in the news around a year ago about new leaks. Firing range? No. Hanford, distinct possibility. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

reply to post by WhiteAlice


It would seem that if it were just the pesticide alone, a simple test of the water quality would expose it.

I live near one of the Great Lakes, and my cities water supply comes from the lake, about 5 miles out, and is piped back to shore. They are very good about monitoring the water, since we have a LOT of agricultural runoff from streams and rivers into the lake. If a contaminant like this got into the water supply and is the cause for these defects, it would be over a vast area and cause a pandemic.

The cases in Yakima, clustered as they are, do not suggest a contamination of the city water supply. Maybe there is a link among the victims if they all used well water. That seems like the sort of thing the CDC would determine, even if it hasn't been published.

Looking over the information on Glyphosate however, is cringe-inducing. Monsanto strikes again.

Google Physicians for Social Responsibility....search for Hanford and you get a litany that includes but is by NO MEANS ALL of these facts.....
Hanford is....
The MOST POLLUTED site in the western hemisphere...
Cleanup will cost upwards of 60 Billion and take decades to complete
Contains 60% of ALL USA nuclear wastes....
They Have ....53 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks.....
SOME of which are leaking....
Total leakage is estimated at 0ne million gallons, to date (and its headed for the Columbia River.....
200 Sq miles are contaminated and 80 of those have ground water wells which are ABOVE SAFE LEVELS .....1600 waste sites have been identified to date on the nuclear reservation................
Much more on the web site..............