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The Case of the Missing Boys

In a small village in southwest Ontario, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to give birth to a son.

While scientists are still trying to figure out why the number of male births is dropping, many suspect it’s the pollution that blows downwind through an area known as Canada’s Chemical Valley. Communities upwind of the oil and chemical plants and hazardous waste dumps that define this area continue to see a normal gender balance of baby boys slightly outnumbering girls – just as nature intended.

But for those who live downwind, the shortage of sons is growing. One community of Native Cree, the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, is nearly surrounded by chemical plants. This tiny village has seen the worst of the gender-bending impact, with girls now outnumbering boys 2-to-1. Under normal circumstances, there should be 105 boys born for every 100 girls.

Whatever is causing the dearth of boys also appears to be striking out at wildlife. In the St. Clair River, which flows through the Chemical Valley, scientists are finding feminized male snapping turtles that have smaller-than-normal penises.

High on the list of suspects are several chemicals that are known to effect gender, such as dioxin. Researchers believe that toxic chemicals are either changing the hormonal make-up of parents in the area or are causing higher prenatal male mortality. Studies are underway to root out the cause.

For a copy of the Ontario study in Environmental Health Perspectives, click here.

Or read a synopsis here.

For more information on this story, and for a list of chemical exposures and how they affect fertility and gender, click here.

And to read about contamination and sex ratio, click here.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org