1988: A LOOK BACK

The children of Chernivtsi

The mysterious malady that has plagued children age six months to 15 years in Chernivtsi this fall has been traced to thallium exposure, but the question remains where the thallium is coming from.

According to the latest reports from a Ukrainian scientist in Chernivtsi, the possibilities are several, including octane added to fuel for cars, improperly stored chemicals, hazardous chemicals polluting various locations in the city and the Dnister River, and aluminum deposits that occur naturally in the ground, combining with the thallium.

Since October, more than 130 children have been diagnosed with this disease, which causes hair loss and nervous disorders. The peculiar illness seems to have affected fair-haired and blue-eyed children, reported sources in Ukraine. They have been treated in hospitals in Moscow, Kiev and Leningrad, and then rehabilitated for 24 days in sanatoriums.

Parents with families have been desperately trying to leave the city, and some residents are concerned that the illness, which seems to have subsided, may recur in the spring of 1989, according to sources in Ukraine.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 25, 1988, No. 52, Vol. LVI

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