LETTER

Offspring sex ratios of people exposed to dioxin and dioxin-like compounds

W H James¹

¹ The Galton Laboratory, University College London, Wolfson House, 4 Stephenson Way, London NW 1 2 HE, UK

Keywords: offspring sex ratio; dioxins

Yoshimura et al¹ reported that although exposure to dioxin (TCDD) (after the explosion at Seveso) was associated with a subsequent significant and substantial drop in offspring sex ratio (proportion male),² there was no obvious similarity in the offspring sex ratios after accidental ingestion of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in Yusho, Japan,¹ and Yucheng, Taiwan.³ PCBs and PCDFs are toxicologically similar to (although less potent than) TCDD. The authors wrote that in Taiwan, despite exposure to chemicals similar to TCDD sufficient to produce obvious clinical disease, the sex ratio was not altered. They inferred that sex ratio is unlikely to be a sensitive indicator of exposures to chemicals such as PCBs, PCDFs, and dioxins. The argument is not decisive and Yoshimura et al¹ called for further research.

I had predicted⁴ Mocarelli's low paternal offspring sex ratio on the basis of the known endocrine effects of dioxin on exposed men.⁵ . . . [Full text of this article]

T Yoshimura², S Kaneko³

² Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, 807-8555 Japan
³ Cancer Information and Epidemiology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji Chuo-ku Tokyo, 104-0045 Japan

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• James, W H, Yoshimura, T, Kaneko, S (2002). Offspring sex ratios of people exposed to dioxin and dioxin-like compounds * Authors' reply. Occup. Environ. Med. 59: 202-202 [Full Text]