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ARE TOXINS AND CRIMINALITY LINKED?
Scientists report evidence that infants born to mothers living near
landfills are at high risk of prematurity and low birth weight-both
risk factors for learning disabilities and criminality.
Michael Berry and Frank Bove studied residents who lived near the
seriously polluted Lipari landfill in New Jersey. The researchers
found that from 1970 to 1975, during the heaviest run-off of toxins
from the dump, low birth weights (under 5.5 pounds) occurred more than
five times as often in the area within one kilometer of the landfill as
they did in neighboring communities. In addition, infants born nearest
the landfill had twice the risk of being born preterm.
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"Birth weight reduction associated with residence near a hazardous
waste landfill," Michael Berry and Frank Bove, Environmental Health
Perspectives, August 1997, pp. 856-861. Address: Michael Berry, New
Jersey Dept. of Health, Trenton, NY 08625-0360.
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