| ■ Crude oil chemical linked to heart defect in babies | 2011.04.29 |
| Babies who are exposed before birth to ethyl benzene, a toxic component in crude oil, may have a higher risk of developing congenital heart disease, US researchers said Saturday. Another chemical used as an industrial metal degreasing agent, trichloroethylene (TCE), also boosted heart risks, said the research to be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Denver, Colorado. Researchers collected stool samples from 135 newborn babies with the heart condition and 432 infants without it. A full 82 percent of all the infants showed exposure to at least one of the 17 solvents measured in the study. |