Report Blames Russian Rockets for Illness
Wed Jan 12, 1:04 PM ET
By The Associated Press
Toxic chemicals spewed from Russian rocket launches in Kazakhstan are responsible for higher illness levels among children living in polluted villages nearby, according to a report published in a British science journal.
A Russian epidemiologist studying 1998-2000 health records of 1,000 children in the Altai Republic said the rates of serious endocrine disorders and blood diseases are twice the normal rate in villages located near the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the site of launches for the International Space Station (news - web sites) and other missions. NASA (news - web sites) and the European Space Agency pay Russia to launch spacecraft there.
In comments published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, Sergey Zykov of Vetor, the state research center of Virology and Biotechnology, said medical records of 330 children living in unpolluted areas near the launch site do not show the same levels of illness.
However, data from Zykov's study has not been published or reviewed by independent epidemiologists, and his assertions could not be immediately verified.
Officials for the Russian space agency rejected the conclusions of Zykov's study, Nature reported. A spokesman told Nature the agency is exploring the future use of alternative rocket propellants.
Zykov said hydrazine and other highly toxic chemicals from spent rocket stages fall to the ground in the sparsely populated areas.
Other major bases used by NASA and ESA, such as Cape Canaveral in Florida, send rockets out over the ocean.
Wed Jan 12, 1:04 PM ET
By The Associated Press
Toxic chemicals spewed from Russian rocket launches in Kazakhstan are responsible for higher illness levels among children living in polluted villages nearby, according to a report published in a British science journal.
A Russian epidemiologist studying 1998-2000 health records of 1,000 children in the Altai Republic said the rates of serious endocrine disorders and blood diseases are twice the normal rate in villages located near the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the site of launches for the International Space Station (news - web sites) and other missions. NASA (news - web sites) and the European Space Agency pay Russia to launch spacecraft there.
In comments published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, Sergey Zykov of Vetor, the state research center of Virology and Biotechnology, said medical records of 330 children living in unpolluted areas near the launch site do not show the same levels of illness.
However, data from Zykov's study has not been published or reviewed by independent epidemiologists, and his assertions could not be immediately verified.
Officials for the Russian space agency rejected the conclusions of Zykov's study, Nature reported. A spokesman told Nature the agency is exploring the future use of alternative rocket propellants.
Zykov said hydrazine and other highly toxic chemicals from spent rocket stages fall to the ground in the sparsely populated areas.
Other major bases used by NASA and ESA, such as Cape Canaveral in Florida, send rockets out over the ocean.
