Man-made chemicals blamed as many more girls than boys are born in Arctic - Guardian

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Man-made chemicals blamed as many more girls than boys are born in Arctic

· High levels can change sex of child during pregnancy
· Survey of Greenland and east Russia puts ratio at 2:1

Paul Brown in Nuuk, Greenland
Wednesday September 12, 2007
The Guardian

Twice as many girls as boys are being born in some
Arctic villages because of high levels of man-made
chemicals in the blood of pregnant women, according to
scientists from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment
Programme (Amap).

The scientists, who say the findings could explain the
recent excess of girl babies across much of the northern
hemisphere, are widening their investigation across the
most acutely affected communities in Russia, Greenland
and Canada to try to discover the size of the imbalance
in Inuit communities of the far north.

In the communities of Greenland and eastern Russia
monitored so far, the ratio was found to be two girls
to one boy. In one village in Greenland only girls have
been born.

The scientists measured the man-made chemicals in
women's blood that mimic human hormones and concluded
that they were capable of triggering changes in the sex
of unborn children in the first three weeks of gestation.
The chemicals are carried in the mother's bloodstream
through the placenta to the foetus, switching hormones
to create girl children.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/gender/story/0,,2167005,00.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Taken to it's logical conclusion, this should take care of that pesky

human population problem rather neatly.

Unless somebody starts in with parthenogenesis......

[lfairban]

8. Actually, no.

If it were going the other way, yes, or if humans were compulsively monogamous.

It is like in hunting, if you hunt only stags, it will have less of an effect on the population than hunting the does also.

Now if the ratio of females to males was 10:1, that might suppress the population growth. Or you might end up with some pretty exhausted males.

:evilgrin:

[Spangle]

12. Ever heard of poloy?

They may start having more then one wife. Which might be why in some areas the ancients had more then one spouse. Men dying in war, etc. In some, the brother had to take the dead brothers wifes, as his own and raise his children as his own. One could be stuck with a lot of wifes that way.

On the flip side. A American Tribe practiced infantcide on the girls. They thought they needed more hunters then gatherers. Several men shared 1 wife. THAT would cut down on the birth population.

In modern times where women don't have to get married to move out of the parents home... I doubt the poloy practice will start up because of this. LOL! But I can see how it would be hard to have a faithful husband, with so many women hitting on him for at least a ONS. Tee HEE

[GliderGuider]

2. "Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man."

"Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?"

Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.

I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor.

[Kolesar]

4. Scandanavian and Russian girls, too!

[Warpy]

3. I don't buy it.

and I won't buy this article until they find a bunch of girls with XY chromosomes.

Sex is determined at fertilization, not in utero.

However, what might be at work is environmental pollution creating an environment that is hostile to Y sperm, making males much less likely to be created at fertilization.

The other possibility, and more likely, is that the pollution is stopping the males from producing Y sperm.

Whoever wrote this is very unclear on the concept(ion).

[Mend]

5. agree...another possibility is that the girl fetuses, known to be stronger

than boys, are surviving the pollution in larger numbers.

[Warpy]

11. I think there would be a decline in live births

if that were the case, and the article doesn't report one.

My money is on something happening to men, either making Y sperm fragile and/or immotile or decreasing their production, altogether.

[Dead_Parrot]

7. It's not unknown.

Google up Androgen insensitivity syndrome: You can have XY females, or XX males for that matter. I'd hold judgement until they run DNA tests of a significant sample, to see if there are XY females turning up in numbers.

Even then, this cluster might be due to a genetic AIS trait manifesting in the population rather than environmental factors, but it does need looking into rather than dismissing.

Edit: GG says it's happening in Canada as well, which does imply something fucked in the environment up there.

[GliderGuider]

6. This has been found in southern Canada as well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aamjiwnaang_First_Nation

The Aamjiwnaang community has expressed concern regarding its proximity to chemical plants in the area, as birth rates of their people have been documented by the American journal Environmental Health Perspectives <2> as deviating from the normal ratio of close to 50% boys, 50% girls. The ratio as found between 1999 and 2003 by the journal was roughly 33% boys, and 67% girls <3>. The First Nation is concerned that this abnormal trend is due to exposure to the effluent and emissions of the nearby chemical plants. This is also the first place in the world to have 2 girls to every boy.

[Wilber_Stool]

9. I guess you've never heard of "Surf City".............n/t

[tomreedtoon]

10. Women are only mutant versions of men!

This confirms what I'd suspected ever since grade school, and explains why they think and act like alien creatures. Whew, that's a relief. I thought I had to get along with them. Now I know I was right in having minimal contact with them.

[Spangle]

13. ;p

LOL!

[Mend]

14. actually it is the other way around...all fetuses start out looking female...