Low Sex Ratios of Births in Areas at Risk from Air Pollution from Incinerators, as Shown by Geographical Analysis and 3-Dimensional Mapping
| Autor: | Fiona L. R. Williams, Andrew B. Lawson, O L Lloyd |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1992 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Pollution medicine.medical_specialty Epidemiology media_common.quotation_subject Statistics as Topic Population Air pollution Environmental pollution Wind medicine.disease_cause Occupational safety and health Risk Factors Air Pollution Environmental health medicine Humans Sex Ratio education Weather media_common education.field_of_study Population statistics Public health General Medicine Refuse Disposal Geography Scotland Female Epidemiologic Methods Sex ratio |
| Zdroj: | International Journal of Epidemiology. 21:311-319 |
| ISSN: | 1464-3685 0300-5771 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/ije/21.2.311 |
| Popis: | Previous research in environmental and occupational health has suggested that fluctuations in the sex ratios of births might provide a useful early warning to the possible health effects of toxins or other stresses in the environment. To examine further this hypothesis, we investigated the sex ratios of births in an area in central Scotland which contained two incineration plants. Analyses of the sex ratios, at various levels of geographical detail and using 3-dimensional mapping techniques, in the residential areas at risk from airborne pollution from these incinerators showed locations with statistically significant excesses of female births.Researchers calculated sex ratios of births for the 3 control areas and 4 comparison areas of Falkirk District in central Scotland based on 1975-1983 birth records to determine if abnormal sex ratios of births occurred in areas at risk from airborne pollution from 2 incinerators in the Larbert area. These incinerators had stopped operating before the study began in the early 1990s. A significant excess of female births occurred in 1 of the most at risk areas in both 1975-1979 and 1980-1983 (p.05). Further another at risk area also had excess female births, but the excess was not significant. The other at risk area had an excess of male births, again not a significant excess. Yet there were no significant differences between the total at risk areas and the comparison areas. Computer mapping analysis revealed a definite northeast-southwest axial pattern of excess female births. A possible explanation for the lack of complete uniformity in excess female births may be that the incinerators' plumes contained several pollutants and different toxins change the sex ratios in different ways. Besides wind direction, particulate size, and weather conditions influenced fall out of particulates differently. Other researchers have shown that some pollutants affect metabolism of rapidly dividing cells of gonadal and fetal tissues. For example, a study of workers' exposure to the nematocide DBCP suggested damage to the spermatozoa bearing the Y chromosome. This study's researchers have found similar associations between airborne pollution and abnormal sex ratios. If indeed airborne pollution exposure influences sex ratios, the presence of abnormal sex ratios can be used as a screening procedure to forewarn medical and environmental health authorities of health hazards. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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