Mount Gambier drinking water and birth defects. A laboratory study in rats after earlier epidemiological findings

Experimental studies in pregnant rats failed to demonstrate the presence of a teratogenic agent in water from the Mount Gambier Blue Lake or from several local bores, even when the water from each of those two sources was concentrated tenfold and fivefold, respectively, by freeze drying. The experimental data thus failed to corroborate the previously reported epidemiological evidence of an increased risk of human teratogenesis in pregnant women who were drinking water from these sources. The growth of rat embryos in culture on serum taken from pregnant women in the Mount Gambier region was identical, regardless of the source of drinking water consumed by the individual donors. The findings do not suggest the presence of a teratogen in Mount Gambier water supplies; however, they should be regarded with the caution which is necessarily associated with teratology studies conducted across the boundaries of species.