Hum. Reprod. Advance Access first published online on September 21, 2007
This version published online on October 3, 2007
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dem309
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Secondary sex ratio in Greece: evidence of an influence by father's occupational exposure
Department of Public Health, Medical School, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
1 Correspondence address. Tel: +30 210 5510544/2610 997889; Fax: +30 210 5573518/2610 996101; E-mail: ecalexop{at}upatras.gr
BACKGROUND: Several medical, occupational and environmental paternal exposures have been suggested to be associated with low offspring sex ratios. The purpose of this study was to analyse trends and variations in the secondary sex ratio in Greece during the last 50 years and among different occupational groups of male employees of a shipyard.
METHODS: Data were retrieved from National Statistics Agency databases through the period 1955–2005, and linear regression was administered to examine the evolution of the sex ratio of newborns. In addition, 587 male shipyard employees with 1012 children were included in the study. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to study the influence of father's job title on offspring sex ratio.
RESULTS: Total births in Greece declined by ~30% between the mid 1950s and 1980, while little change in sex ratio occurred. In contrast, while between 1980 and 2000, the birth rate continued to decline at the same rate (by ~30%), there appeared to be a trend toward a decrease in sex ratio. The groups of sandblasters/painters and of ship carpenters showed a significantly lower proportion of boys among newborn children.
CONCLUSIONS: Data from men working in a Greek shipyard suggest that the trend toward a decrease in secondary sex ratio observed in this country may be accounted for by a decrease in male births associated with specific workplace exposures of the father.
Key words: sex ratio/chemical exposure/sandblasters/painters/carpenters
In the orginal version of this manuscript the author names were incorrectly cited. The correct author names are Evangelos C. Alexopoulos and Yannis Alamanos
Submitted on June 15, 2007; resubmitted on August 5, 2007; accepted on August 30, 2007.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  D. Miliaras, S. Meditskou, and M. Ketikidou Increased male proportion in fetal deaths and in fetuses with congenital malformations in Greece Hum. Reprod., October 1, 2008; 23(10): 2385 - 2386. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|