[Congenital developmental defects in children and environmental pollution]

In one of the southern regions of the Ukraine, analysis was made over the recent three years of the genetic monitoring data on the incidence and structure of congenital developmental abnormalities in the newborn as related to the status of environmental pollution (the content of dust, carbon black, carbon and nitrogen oxides, nitrogen and sulfur dioxides, hydrogen sulfide, formaldehyde, phenol, fluorine compounds in the atmospheric air; the content of toxic chemicals and pesticides in foods, soil, water and feeds) as well as to the radiation situation. In the region under study, areas with varying degree of environmental pollution were distinguished. That was mainly done in terms of the characteristics of the atmospheric air and (to a less degree) varying annual dose of external radiation on conversion to one inhabitant. Analysis of the genetic monitoring has demonstrated the prevalence of congenital abnormalities, in the genesis of which the mutation component was of paramount importance, to be significantly higher in an ecologically unsafe area. The data obtained can be used in the regional programs aimed at the improvement of the environment, a reduction of the influence of exogenous risk factors implicated in the formation of congenital developmental abnormalities in children.