Exposure to nuclear radiation has a genetic effect on humans leading to an increase in male births relative to female births, German researchers say.

Hagen Scherb and Kristina Voigt of the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen said their study shows radiation from atomic bomb testing before the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963, the Chernobyl accident and from living near nuclear facilities has had a long-term effect on the ratio of male to female human births, an article in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research reported.

Ionizing radiation from nuclear activity is known to have mutagenic properties and is likely to have detrimental effects on human reproduction, they said.

Scherb and Voigt focused on sex odds, a genetic indicator that may reveal differences in seemingly normal as well as adverse pregnancy outcomes between maternal exposure and paternal exposure.

Among their findings, they said, was data showing a significant change in sex odds in Europe in the year 1987 following Chernobyl, whereas no such similar effect was seen in the United States, which was less exposed to the consequences of the catastrophe.
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