China Daily on Rise in Birth Defects

 Birth defects across country on the rise
China Daily, published September 15, 2009

This very timely article launched me into the more specific topic of my research: water pollution and the increase of birth defects in China. The article doesn't initially mention environmental causes, but instead cites better technology that allows for the identification of these defects (hence raising the recorded incidence) and the fact that women are having children later.

It goes on to quote Ren Aiguo, director of the reproductive health institute at Peking University: "Chemical and toxic emissions impact the health of the parents, so it is likely they also impact the health of an unborn baby." Still, the focus of the article is not on environmental causes, which makes me think this is an area of research ripe for further exploration.