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FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENCE OF CONGENITAL ANOMALIES: A LOCALIZED INVESTIGATION
Citation:
Burdeshaw, J. AND S. Schaffer. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCIDENCE OF CONGENITAL ANOMALIES: A LOCALIZED INVESTIGATION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/1-77/016.
Description:
The report concludes that, in net terms, and on the basis of available retrospective data, primarily from birth records, there are no strong indications that the incidence of congenital anomalies in the Ft. Rucker, Alabama area is higher than normal. The original hypothesis that the situation might be serious has been traced, for the most part, to earlier reliance on faulty diagnosing and reporting, and especially to reliance on the birth certificate, which, there is reason to believe on the basis of the findings of this study, is a relatively insensitive instrument for measuring the incidence of congenital anomalies. The attempt to relate this incidence to specific factors associated with military life, or in particular to factors associated with exposure to military radar, was largely unsuccessful because the military in effect denied access to pertinent records on the grounds that no prima facie case had been made that a problem really exists.