Two girls for every boy
In the Aamjiwnaang community near Ontario, Canada, there has been a sharp fall off in birth rates of male children. Between 1999 and 2003, 86 girls were born compared to just 46 males. Assuming gender is random, it is within the realm of possibility that this could happen assuming one birth is independent from the next, but it’s extremely unlikely. Birth rates of males began dropping around 1993, and the ratio has become more skewed since then, almost certainly pointing to some external cause.
The probable cause is high levels of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) — which can disrupt hormone balances — and phthalates. Phthalates are plasticizers: they make hard plastic malleable, such as turning PVC into a flexible plastic. They’re also found in things like nail polish. Those living in the Aamjiwnaang community haven’t been tested for chemicals for some reason, but the chemicals at the top of the list of possible culprits.
Most guys might love to be born into a community where the ratio of men to women is skewed so badly, but many of the males born have slight birth defects, as male fetuses exposed to phthalates in the womb have smaller penises than males who have not.
While not conclusive until chemical testing has been done — despite what the New Scientist article says — this is the first research being done that might show direct evidence of chemicals feminizing fetuses in the womb.
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The good folks in the Aamjiwnaang community should hook up with China.
[/tasteless comment]
Comment by Jacqui — September 6, 2005 @ 4:21 pm
[...] Household toxins can be transferred across the placenta. This isn’t especially surprising, since most foreign substances cross the placenta but it’s worth mentioning in the light of Hurricane Katrina. Jonathan has a good writeup in this week’s Science.Ars that explains why toxins in battered New Orleans are as big a health issue as disease proliferation through dirty water. In the case of a fetus, these toxins, including plasticizers, can cause significant damage to a developing baby. [...]
Pingback by polyscience.org » Bullets: armor-piercing shells, gluten, and transferred toxins — September 12, 2005 @ 6:01 pm
I think that all the people living in that area should be tested. First the pregnant women.
Comment by Amanda — May 3, 2006 @ 12:23 pm