January 21, 2019.
Three new cases of babies born without arms have been reported in Bouches-du-Rhône. An abnormally high rate which raises new questions.
The same malformations that worry health authorities in the rest of France
Months have passed since the first report of a surprisingly high number of babies born without arms or forearms. According to information revealed by The Parisian this Monday, January 21, three cases have just been reported in the Bouches-du-Rhône. Three little girls, born in 2016, in an interval of 5 months, all three around the pond of Berre.
” This is the same malformation as the one that concerns us in Ain and Morbihan », Explains Emmanuelle Amar, director of the register of malformations in Rhône-Alpes, interviewed at the microphone of RTL. ” At the moment, we cannot rule on an excess of cases because we do not have the data of births with malformations in the Bouches-du-Rhône. “, She adds again before ensuring that” this regrouping in time and space raises questions and that it is necessary at all costs to push the investigations “.
The pond of Berre already pointed out by researchers
At the national level, investigations on the subject have started. Currently, the health authorities identified 4 cases around Guidel, in Morbihan, between 2011 and 2013, 3 cases near Mouzeil, in Loire-Atlantique between 2007 and 2008, 8 cases in Ain around Druillat, between 2009 and 2014 and now 3 cases in Bouches-du-Rhône. A national survey is underway, and first results should soon be published.
This is not the first time that the Etang de Berre has been at the heart of a health issue. In 2017, a study conducted by a group of American and French scientists revealed that the inhabitants of the municipalities located around this pond had twice the risk of developing cancer than the rest of the population.. According to the conclusions of these experts, the refineries, oil depots and other chemical factories installed in the region are not unrelated to this abnormally high rate. From there to draw a conclusion as to the origin of the malformations of these babies, there is only one step.
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