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Study: Birth Defects in Corpus Christi Twice State Rate
A new study conducted by the Texas Department of State Health Services finds that babies born in the heavily polluted Corpus Christi area are twice as likely to have birth defects as the rest of the state and 17 percent more likely to have a severe birth defect. While the scientists will spend the next year looking at how close to polluted sites the mothers lived during their pregnancies, lawmakers shouldn't wait to act. We already know that pollution from refineries and chemical plants is linked to a myriad of health problems, including asthma, cancer and birth defects. These facilities routinely illegally emit dangerous chemicals into our air and water, but state regulators at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) are doing little about it. It's time for TCEQ Read today's San Antonio Express-News story about the birth defects study. |