The Sex Ratio at Birth: The Role of Ionizing Radiation Vs. Social Factors

The concept has been propagated by certain writers that elevation of the radiation background due to nuclear testing and Chernobyl fallout skewed the sex ratio at birth towards more males. This hypothesis remains unproven and seems to camouflage the following tendencies exemplified here on the basis of the former Soviet Union. Almost all regions displayed an increase in the male/total ratio at birth from 1986 onwards. The highest ratios have been reported from the South Caucasus, being explained by the son preference and sexselective abortions. The same is probably true for the North Caucasus, where birthrate has been the highest in Russian Federation. Elevation of male/fenale ratios at birth coincided with the increasing availability of the prenatal ultrasonic gender testing.