Using computer modeling to show how weather patterns disperse particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide, John Spengler , the Akira Yamaguchi professor of environmental health and human habitation, and Jonathan Levy , research fellow in environmental health, estimated that these three pollutants from the nine plants result in 300 premature deaths and 14,000 asthma attacks annually, and 440,000 incidents of upper respiratory symptoms daily among the 33 million people living in nine states within 250 miles. In fact, some of the plants introduced fuel changes and emission controls between 1998 and 2000, moves, they say, that will prevent about 80 premature deaths per year. The study did not assess the effects of other pollutants such as ozone, mercury, greenhouse gases, or acid rain. The disease, which affects one in every 3,600 members of this group, impairs the development of the sensory and autonomic nervous systems.
Babies born with the disease often have trouble sucking and swallowing, forcing many to be tube fed.
Nor can they taste or cry since they lack taste buds and tears. Those affected also have problems controlling their heart rate and blood pressure. Nearly half die before reaching their 30th birthday. The immediate result of this discovery, which is scheduled to appear in the March issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics, will be to make it possible to easily identify those who carry the FD gene. One in 30 Ashkenazim is estimated to carry the FD gene.