Letters to the Editor
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Don't try to scare me
I grew up around chemical plants and refineries, near a lake filled with raw effluent and a toxic waste dump. So I know that there's some bad stuff in the world.
But when I read the claim of a "significant decline in the birth of baby boys," it sounded funny to me, so I Googled the sex ratio of the U. S. and found a population distribution chart from 1860 to 2006. Although that chart does not show births, it does indicate the male to female ratio for population under 5. That ratio has actually increased (probably the result of better disease control and safety measures), although I'm not sure if the amount is really statistically significant. If the male birth rate is in such a tailspin, why has the ratio been holding quite steady at more than 104 males to females under 5 since 1970 (it was slightly lower in 1960)?
Anecdotes and clever diatribes do not science make.