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GEOLOGIC ENVIRONMENTAL RADIATION FROM CONGENITAL MALFORMATION Death rates due t o coagenital malformations as a fraction of total deaths for the period :~952-1956were tabulated for the United States on a county basis from data published by the National Office of Vital Statistics.Inthe absence of detailed dosimetric data, which would define the level of environmental radiation t o be compared with congenital nalformation death rates, it i s necessary t o use indirect evidence as The presence of uranium ore deposits o r occurrences was presumed t o tie indicative of a general environment that contains a higher than average concentration of radioactive material i n the rock, soil, water, and air. This presumption is also necessary because most uranium reserves are highly localized. On the assumption that helium i s prirnarily the result of the disintegration of local deposits o r disseminations of uranium, the presence of helium is also taken as indirect evidence of an environment with a higher than average concentration of Although only supw3'icial coverage i s available, analyses of uranium i n @;roundwater inthe United States, as reported t o the Second International Conference at Geneva on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, were selected as another measure of probable levels of environmental radiation. Raw Materials, AEC, and evaluated by t h e Division of Biology and Medicine, A E C The in form tion presented herein was assenbled by the Division of
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From the data tabulated above the following relationships are "hose states with t h e highest overall congenital malformation death rates have t h e highest tonnage of uranium ore reserves, although not in exactly the Sam sequence. Those geologic pro vi xe s which have the highest congenital malformation death rates a l s o have the highest uranium ore reserves althou& not i n exactly the same sequence. Congenital Wlf'ornation death rates are not greatly different from t h e national average in those areas where widespread but only slightly uraniferous deposits exist, e.g., Chattanooga shale, Tennessee; uraniferous phosphate deposits of Florida. Atthe individual county level, correlation is imperfect i n that some counties which have known uranium deposits show a low' congenital mlformation death rate. On the other hand, there are other counties which have a hi# congenital Pralformat i o n death rate but lack known uranium deposits or occurrences. Areas i n the United States containing 9s of the domestic helium resources have counties which show high dkath r a t e s from congenital malformations, although, here too, there a r e exceptions. Water am1ys:ls data covering the entire United States are limited higher than average uranium content i n ground water of those geologic provinces prevfously shown t o be higher i n both uranium resources and congenital gL33formtion death rates, although once IcIowever, 4.86 samples that were taken indicate slightly again not in identical sequence.
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I n t h e evaluation of these data, it should first be recognized that about one-half of the congenital malformitions and defects that occur i n man are attributed to the expression of detrimental gaes. Increases inthe 0c:currence of these defects can then be tentatively attributed t o an increase i n the gene mutation rate which in turn results from an increase i n environmental radiation levels. Unequivocal proof is difficult to achieve, however, since the malformation rate is alsoa function of maternal age and other factors which may directly affect the embryo, consanguinity, race, racial intermarriage rate, maternal disease history, socio-economic status, migratory habits of . the population, and s o on. Asa result, the finding noted above, that 811 increase i n the environmental radiation level is associated with an increase inthe incidence of mortality due t o congenital malformation, must be considered as extremely tenuous. have not been quantitatively evaluated and t h e populations involved are The actual radiation levels not directly compa.rable i n term of age, race, etc. The particular statistic employed in this study may also be somewhat insensitive as a measure of genetic effects. The ratio of congenital ml form tion deaths t o deaths from all causes can easily vary with the distribution of ages inthe population through the influence of the latter on the b i r t h rate and the death rate. Most lnalforloation deaths occur i n infancy. For example, i n 1956, there were about 21,000 nalforlnation deaths in the U,S. and 15,000 of these occurred inthe first year of life. Coinsequently, relatively youthful groups Vith a high birthrate and a low total death rate could produce a high frequency of rmalformtion deaths. Conversely, older groups could show a lower Illcal-
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formation death ratio. Since the western populations of the U.S. tend t o be younger than inthe east, younger groups are predominantly involved i n t h e geologic provinces containing the llajor uranium ore reserves. No effort was =de i.n this feasibility study t o correct for age, birth rate and death rate differences. In spite of these deficiencies i n the study, the data are considered sufficiently provocative t o warrant further isvesfigation. Any detailed statistical investigation should make an effort to add additional parameters t o the study. available in the vital statistics records, are total infant and childhood Those of genetic importance, which are readily mortality rate, infant and childhood mortality by cause, sex ratio,birth weight, congenital malfomstion death rate and t o t a l nralformation incidence wherever available. Careful attention should also be given t o the significant underlying biological variables of maternal and paternal age, race and consanguinity. dose will be extreinely difficult t o obtain, the results of any study i n t h i s area would be of far reaching importance t o the fields of human genetics, medicine and public health. Even though an accurate measure of radiation