improves infant health

 scientists claim they have the first evidence that cleanups of Superfund sites protect babies in the womb. In  March working paper issued by the National Bureau of economic research, researchers compare the health of more than 620,000 infants born to families near these hazardous sites. Birth defects which typically occur early in pregnancy  fell 20 to 25 percent in the five years after cleanups compared with the five years before cleanups started, especially among families living within 2,000 meters of Superfund sites. Infant mortality data suggest cleanups of the 51 most toxic sites allowed more than 323 additional babies to survive