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In underdevelopment, adequate caloric intake, smoking restraint, control of
drug sales, and decrease of mean maternal age must be added to the list given
for development. Since underdeveloped populations have a more relaxed control
of ecological aggressions, environmental risks for the fetus are more important
here than in developed ones.
Environmental exposures. Known environmental causes of birth defects
are limited to ionizing radiation, methylmercury, and lead, producing
microcephaly and mental deficiency. However, this lack of proven cause-effect
examples may be due to methodological limitations, imposed by factors affecting
the whole population within large areas.
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