By late 1993, CNN and others were seizing upon the alleged Mississippi birth
defect cluster to say that GWS could be inherited.
Energetic heavy ion irradiations, on the other hand, produce energetic displacement cascades that can lead to direct formation of
defect clusters within isolated displacement cascades, due to more energetic average recoil atom energies (>10 keV) [5, 6].
Farmworkers exposed to pesticides have been the subject of investigations into birth
defect clusters; and miscarriage and birth
defect clusters have been reported among laboratory and hospital workers who use toxic chemicals and gases.