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NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Children living near
the flight path of rockets launched from a Soviet-era space launch
station have shown high rates of hormonal problems and blood
disorders.
A study done by Siberian researchers, unpublished but leaked
to the journal Nature, blamed unburned hydrazine fuel released
during early stages of takeoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
neighboring Kazakhstan, the BBC reported Thursday.
"A tablespoon of hydrazine in a swimming pool would kill
anyone who drank the water," said Fabio Caramelli, an engineer at
the European Space Research and Technology Centre.
The researchers looked at 1,000 children living in Russia's
Altai Republic and found rates of disease more than double the norm.
Children from the worst affected areas were up to twice as
likely to require medical attention from 1998 to 2000 as 330
children from unpolluted areas.
The Baikonur station, which Russia rents from Kazakhstan,
was built in the 1950s as a missile testing facility but is now one
of the world's largest launch stations. The station was made famous
in 1961 when Yuri Gagarin made history by becoming the first man to
orbit the earth after taking off from the station.
The Russian space agency has rejected the study.