12/30英ガーディアンのファルージャの先天性異常に関する記事

ICBUWヒロシマからのメールを転載します。

ーーー転送転載歓迎ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
12月30日『ガーディアン』：（Martin Chulov記者）
「ファルージャでの先天性異常や癌の増加は、米軍
による攻撃が原因か―新たな調査が示唆」
　新生児異常は平均の１１倍：2004年の攻撃による
汚染が原因か

　記事全文は、http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/30/faulluja-birth-defects-iraq

・今回の調査結果は、来週発行されるThe International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthで発表される
もの。
　［注：調査に関わっている環境毒物学者Mozhgan
Savabieasfahani博士の言葉が記事の中で引用されていま
すが、Savabieasfahani博士は、アメリカ・ミシガン州を
ベースとするイラン人で、Pollution and Reproductive Damage:
Pollution induced cell-death and reproductive damage in fish and
mammals（2009）を発表しています。］
・ 今年５月、ファルージャで生まれた547新生児の
うち15%に深刻な先天性異常があり、同時期に生まれ
た赤ん坊の11%が妊娠後30週を経ずに出産され、14%が
流産であった。
・ 住民は有害な環境因子に慢性的に曝されている
と推測される。その因子が何かはまだ特定できてい
ないが、テストを続行中である。さらなる調査への
支援に関心をもつ科学者・財団などは、bahar@umich.edu
　にコンタクトしてほしい。
・ WHOによる調査は、バイアスのないものとはなら
ないであろう。［WHOは、今年の夏から一年半の予定
で、ファールジャにおける先天性異常増加に関する
調査を開始しています。］
　参照："WHO suppressed evidence on effects of depleted uranium,
expert says," the British Medical Journal, November 2006 (11; 333
(7576): 990)--- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1635642/

［以下、記事原文抄録］
The findings, which will be published in the International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health, come prior to a much-
anticipated World Health Organisation study of Falluja's genetic
health. They follow two alarming earlier studies, one of which found
a distortion in the sex ratio of newborns since the invasion of Iraq
in 2003 a 15% drop in births of boys.

"We suspect that the population is chronically exposed to an
environmental agent," said one of the report's authors, environmental
toxicologist Mozhgan Savabieasfahani. "We don't know what that
environmental factor is, but we are doing more tests to find out...."

"City's spike in deformity rates

"Birth-defect rates in Falluja have become increasingly alarming over
the past two years. In the first half of 2010, the number of monthly
cases of serious abnormalities rose to unprecedented levels. In
Falluja general hospital, 15% of the 547 babies born in May had a
chronic deformity, such as a neural tune defect which affects the
brain and lower limbs cardiac, or skeletal abnormalities, or
cancers.

"No other city in Iraq has anywhere near the same levels of reported
abnormalities. Falluja sees at least 11 times as many major defects
in newborns than world averages, the research has shown..."

"... In May, 15% of the 547 babies born had serious birth defects. In
the same period, 11% of babies were born at less than 30 weeks and
14% of foetuses spontaneously aborted. "

-- END OF EXCERPTS --

==================================
More independent biomedical investigation of Iraqi war victims is
needed.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is unlikely to conduct any
unbiased study: See the British Medical Journal in November 2006 (11;
333(7576): 990), in an article entitled "WHO suppressed evidence on
effects of depleted uranium, expert says", on the internet at http://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1635642/

Those scientists or foundations who wish to enable further research
into the Fallujah epideomic of birth defects may contact bahar@umich.edu