Coal mining regions of northern China are reporting soaring levels of defects in newborns, an apparent result of heavy pollution, state media said Monday.

Results from eight main coal mining areas in Shanxi province show levels far higher than the national average, according to a Xinhua News Agency report carried by the Beijing News.

“The rate of birth defects is related to environmental pollution,” the report said, citing provincial population planning official An Huanxiao.

Shanxi is one of China’s most heavily polluted regions, mainly as a result of mining and the use of high-sulfur coal.

No figures were given in the report, although data posted this month on the Web site of the government’s National Population and Family Planning Commission said the national rate of birth defects increased by nearly 50 percent over 2001-2006, rising to 145.5 per 10,000 births.

Combined with other forms of visible defects and problems that don’t show up until several months after birth, a total of 1.2 million children were born with defects every year, accounting for up to 6 percent of all children born, according to the data.

The commission gave no specific reasons for the increase, but urged medical authorities to better educate prospective parents and invest more in prevention and screening.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, birth defects affect about one out of 33 babies in the United States.

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