http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/mg18725154.800
EVIDENCE continues to pile up that hormone-disrupting chemicals can gender-bend human babies.
Earlier this year it was reported that the sons of women exposed to phthalates during pregnancy tend to have smaller penises ( New Scientist , 4 June, p 11). This was the first direct evidence that such chemicals can feminise fetuses in the womb.
Now nearly twice as many girls as boys are being born in the Aamjiwnaang community, who live next door to the Sarnia-Lambton Chemical Valley complex in Ontario, Canada. And though no chemical has yet been shown to be to blame, high levels of hexachlorobenzene (HCB), which also has hormone-disrupting properties, have been found in the local soil, and phthalates are being emitted from part of the complex.
The proportion of male births began falling around 1993, says Constanze Mackenzie of the University of Ottawa. And the ratio has become more skewed since then. Between 1999 and 2003, the community saw just 46 boys born compared to 86 girls ( Environmental Health Perspectives , DOI: 10.1289/ehp.8479).
People living in the community have not yet been tested for contaminants in their blood, but chemicals are "at the top of our list" of possible causes, she says.
Journal reference: Environmental Health Perspectives (DOI: 10.1289/ehp.8479)
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