Unusually high
levels of arsenic have been found in some South Carolina neighborhoods
where University of South Carolina researchers are studying possible
links between chemical exposure during pregnancy and mental retardation.
Describing the
early findings as “surprising,” researcher Marjorie Aelion said the
levels are “higher than the EPA standard for residential areas.”
Arsenic is one of a
number of toxic chemicals suspected of having a role in causing mental
retardation, said Aelion, who is part of an interdisciplinary team from
the Arnold School of Public Health and the School of Medicine.
Using data from
Medicaid administrative data files the research team is identifying
geographical clusters of children identified with developmental delay or
mental retardation. When a cluster is found the researchers test soil
samples from the area looking for unusual concentrations of chemicals.
The study is
supported by a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of
Health. It involves 152,000 children born in South Carolina between 1996
and 2001. Because the state has such a high Medicaid enrollment, that
is about half of the total number of births for those years, it is an
excellent environment for this type of study.
Aelion, an expert
in environmental contamination, is a professor in the Department of
Environmental Health Sciences. Others on the team are Suzanne McDermott,
a professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the
Medical School and Andrew Lawson, an expert in spatio-environmental
epidemiology and a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and
Biostatistics.
Heavy metals such
as mercury and lead have been linked to mental retardation, said
McDermott, but the team is looking at other less-studied elements –
arsenic, copper, chromium, beryllium, antimony, cadmium, barium and
manganese -- because of their potential to cause harm to a developing
brain.
Since the 1960s
scientists have been unable to identify more than 50 percent of the
causes of mental retardation.
“That means for
half of the cases of mental retardation we can’t tell parents what
caused it. It just happens. And that seems to be a perfect situation for
an epidemiologist to figure out some more causes,” said McDermott.
Soil is the focus
of the study because contaminants from the air and the water settle in
the soil, said McDermott. “What you find is that soil is a very good
indicator of what’s in the environment.”
The Medicaid data
can track the addresses of women through their pregnancies. The
scientists selected the 1996-2001 period so they could follow the group
forward to the present in order to see if their Medicaid billing records
have a code for developmental delay or mental retardation. Only a small
proportion of mental retardation is identified at birth so these
diagnoses are made throughout early childhood.
The team has
funding for three years of research with an opportunity to competitively
bid for two additional years if results are promising.
For that reason,
the team has decided to concentrate on the more heavily industrialized
half of the state from the Midlands to the mountains. If the NIH
approves two additional years the team will investigate the coast and
the Coastal Plain where the water table is much higher, the geology is
different and agriculture chemicals are widely used.
Although the team
has access to databases that identify industrial locations and toxic
dump sites, McDermott said the team is not interested in drawing maps
but in identifying chemicals and linking exposure to mental retardation.
“You may live near
a (chemical) site, but someone may be using the same chemical in their
hobby room and it’s just as dangerous to them,” McDermott said.
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