Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005–2009

Abstract

There have been anecdotal reports of increases in birth defects and cancer in Fallujah, Iraq blamed on the use of novel weapons (possibly including depleted uranium) in heavy fighting which occurred in that town between US led forces and local elements in 2004. In Jan/Feb 2010 the authors organised a team of researchers who visited 711 houses in Fallujah, Iraq and obtained responses to a questionnaire in Arabic on cancer, birth defects and infant mortality. The total population in the resulting sample was 4,843 persons with and overall response rate was better than 60%. Relative Risks for cancer were age-standardised and compared to rates in the Middle East Cancer Registry (MECC, Garbiah Egypt) for 1999 and rates in Jordan 1996–2001. Between Jan 2005 and the survey end date there were 62 cases of cancer malignancy reported (RR = 4.22; CI: 2.8, 6.6; p < 0.00000001) including 16 cases of childhood cancer 0–14 (RR = 12.6; CI: 4.9, 32; p < 0.00000001). Highest risks were found in all-leukaemia in the age groups 0–34 (20 cases RR = 38.5; CI: 19.2, 77; p < 0.00000001), all lymphoma 0–34 (8 cases, RR = 9.24;CI: 4.12, 20.8; p < 0.00000001), female breast cancer 0–44 (12 cases RR = 9.7;CI: 3.6, 25.6; p < 0.00000001) and brain tumours all ages (4 cases, RR = 7.4;CI: 2.4, 23.1; P < 0.004). Infant mortality was based on the mean birth rate over the 4 year period 2006–2009 with 1/6th added for cases reported in January and February 2010. There were 34 deaths in the age group 0–1 in this period giving a rate of 80 deaths per 1,000 births. This may be compared with a rate of 19.8 in Egypt (RR = 4.2 p < 0.00001) 17 in Jordan in 2008 and 9.7 in Kuwait in 2008. The mean birth sex-ratio in the recent 5-year cohort was anomalous. Normally the sex ratio in human populations is a constant with 1,050 boys born to 1,000 girls. This is disturbed if there is a genetic damage stress. The ratio of boys to 1,000 girls in the 0–4, 5–9, 10–14 and 15–19 age cohorts in the Fallujah sample were 860, 1,182, 1,108 and 1,010 respectively suggesting genetic damage to the 0–4 group (p < 0.01). Whilst the results seem to qualitatively support the existence of serious mutation-related health effects in Fallujah, owing to the structural problems associated with surveys of this kind, care should be exercised in interpreting the findings quantitatively.

Childhood leukemia, atmospheric test fallout and high voltage power distribution lines

“…In fact the exposures at Aldermaston are only to Uranium and Plutonium particles, not to the other fallout residue radionuclides. Another piece of evidence is the high level of leukemia found in Fallujah Iraq where the radioactivity exposures were only to Uranium particles [37,38]. The question of the radiobiological effects of Uranium has been discussed recently [22,39].…”

Regional Differences in Histological Features of Bladder Cancer Diagnosed in Post-War Iraq

“…Different weapons were used during these aforementioned wars, including DU, which has contributed to the development of unusual diseases and cancers [2,4] , congenital anomalies [5,7] , cancers in young people [11] . Mean age of patients included in this report was 56 years, which is relatively young group when compared with UK mean age; 73 years [15] or even when compared with neighbouring country like Iran which is 65 years [16] .…”

“…Occurrence of congenital anomalies, different chronic diseases and cancers with aggressive behaviour have emerged in RI but to a lesser extent in KR [5,6]. Moreover, the number of children diagnosed with cancers and leukaemia has markedly increased and they are more often diagnosed in late stages [2,3]. In addition, aggressiveness of several cancers in adults in RI has increased dramatically [7,8] .…”

“…Some cancer increases are due to lifestyle changes and an aging population; others are due to weapons and chemical exposure [2][3][4]. Iraq underwent two major wars during 1991 and 2003, in which different types of weapons were used, including DU.…”

A model study on the absorbed dose of radiation following respiratory intake of 238U3O8 aerosols

“…The dispersed ceramic particles of DU oxides with sizes of the order of are able to reach the alveolar region of the lungs upon inhalation. Whether the biological effects following the exposure to aerosols of DU oxides are responsible for the complex syndrome affecting the military and civilian populations around combat areas is still a matter of controversy (2,3,4,5) . The long half-life of the isotope 238 U ( ⁄ ) makes its specific activity relatively low, and it is easy to show that the dose absorbed by the people exposed to DU aerosols is a small fraction of the background radiation.…”