title: Sex ratio of nuclear industry employees' children.
abstract: Does preconceptional exposure to ionising radiation before conception affect the health of offspring? Some studies have suggested that radiation exposure might influence the sex ratio at birth, potentially indicating genetic damage. We examined the sex ratio of over 46000 children born to UK nuclear industry workers, using information on exposure from the workers' individual employment and dosimetry records. We found no statistically significant alterations of the sex ratio, and no evidence that exposure to low-level ionising radiation at work influences the sex ratio of children conceived after exposure.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maconochie
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Roman
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Beral
mesh_terms: D000398:Air Pollution, Radioactive / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003625:Data Collection; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018812:Paternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011210:Power Plants; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D012744:Sex Ratio; D006113:United Kingdom