The risk of birth defects is generally accredited with genetic factors, environmental causes, but the
contribution of environmental factors to birth defects is still inconclusive. With the hypothesis of associations
of geochemical features distribution and birth defects risk, we collected birth records and
measured the chemical components in soil samples from a high prevalence area of birth defects in
Shanxi province, China. The relative risk levels among villages were estimated with conditional spatial
autoregressive model and the relationships between the risk levels of the villages and the 15 types of
chemical elements concentration in the cropland and woodland soils were explored. The results revealed
that the arsenic levels in cropland soil showed a significant association with birth defects occurring risk
in this area, which is consistent with existing evidences of arsenic as a teratogen and warrants further
investigation on arsenic exposure routine to birth defect occurring risk.