A recent MSU study found that the food people eat affects their children’s gender.
Males who have higher levels of PCBs in their systems were more likely to father boys, the study found.
Epidemiology Professor Wilfried Karmaus, who led the study, said the study was an effort to dispute the effect of chemicals on human reproduction.
“We tested both the maternal and paternal influence to see which parent was responsible for the reproduction of boys,” Karmaus said.
PCB, or polychlorinated biphenyl, is an industrial chemical used in compactors for insulation, cutting oils and hydraulic fluids. It is released into the environment by some industries and is suspected of causing cancer and hormonal disorders.
“We recruited men who fished in Lake Michigan and their families,” Karmaus said. “We gave them three surveys about their lifestyle in 1973 and recontacted them in 2000.”
The study dealt with 101 families who had 208 children. Karmaus requested birth statistics, such as child gender and duration of pregnancy for all children born after 1963. The results showed more hormonal disorders in male fish-eaters who had higher levels of the chemical, causing them to father boys instead of girls.
“PCBs live on the ground of Lake Michigan,” Karmaus said. “Small animals such as crabs and worms eat the PCBs. The fish eat the small animals and then humans eat the fish.
“It’s called the bioaccumulated food chain.”
Karmaus is conducting another study involving the second-generation offspring of the participants. He will test the maternal influence on reproduction during the study. The results will be released in about a year.
Zoology Professor John Giesy said PCBs are harmful for several reasons.
“Once they get out, they don’t go away and they’re very toxic,” said Giesy, who also works with the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center.
Giesy said the chemical tends to accumulate from water into the fish.
“There can be a very low concentration of PCBs in water, but a very high concentration of it in fish after it accumulates,” he said. “One of the reasons it’s so dangerous is that humans can’t see, smell or taste it.
“Lake Michigan has a large amount of it because it has a slow turnover, which means it could take up to 100 years for the lake to be turned over and gain new water.”
Advertising senior Dave Beaudrie said he eats fish once in a while and has never gotten sick from it.
“I don’t worry about harmful toxins because I’d like to think when I buy fish at the store, it becomes safe when it goes through the processing stage,” Beaudrie said. “But I wouldn’t feel safe going fishing and then cooking it myself.”
