| dbo:abstract |
Uranium poisoning in Punjab first made news in March 2009, when a South African Board Certified Candidate Clinical Metal Toxicologist, Carin Smit, visiting Faridkot city in Punjab, India, instrumental in having hair and urine samples taken (2008/09) of 149/53 children respectively, who were affected with birth abnormalities including physical deformities, neurological and mental disorders. These samples were shipped to Microtrace Mineral Lab, Germany. At the onset of the action research project, it was expected that heavy metal toxicity might be implicated as reasons why these children were so badly affected. Surprisingly, high levels of uranium were found in 88% of the samples, and in the case of one child, the levels were more than 60 times the maximum safe limit. A study, carried out amongst mentally disabled children in the Malwa region of Punjab, revealed 87% of children below 12 years and 82% beyond that age having uranium levels high enough to cause diseases, also uranium levels in samples of three kids from Kotkapura and Faridkot were 62, 44 and 27 times higher than normal. Subsequently, the Baba Farid Centre for Special Children, Faridkot, sent samples of five children from the worst-affected village, Teja Rohela, near Fazilka, which has over 100 children which are congenitally mentally and physically challenged, to the same lab. Since 2009, Micro Trace Minerals of Germany has continued testing cancer patients, living in the Malwa Region of Punjab, the area known for having the highest cancer rate in India. Patient evaluation and the collection of nail samples was carried out with the help of Prof. Chander Parkash of the Technical University of Punjab. As with previous studies, high uranium was found in nearly all test persons. The work was published in the British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research in 2015. (en) |
| rdfs:comment |
Uranium poisoning in Punjab first made news in March 2009, when a South African Board Certified Candidate Clinical Metal Toxicologist, Carin Smit, visiting Faridkot city in Punjab, India, instrumental in having hair and urine samples taken (2008/09) of 149/53 children respectively, who were affected with birth abnormalities including physical deformities, neurological and mental disorders. These samples were shipped to Microtrace Mineral Lab, Germany. (en) |
