AN ASSESSMENT OF FERTILITY IN BORON-EXPOSED TURKISH SUBPOPULATIONS

Relationships between elevated boron intake and fertility were sought by comparing reproduction in the residents of two Turkish villages wit h high levels of boron in their drinking water tone with 8.5 to 29 mg B/L and the other with 2.05 to 2.5 mg B/L), with three nearby villages with more typical low boron levels (0.03 to 0.40 mg B/L). The two hig h boron villages were designated as Region I, and the three villages w ith low boron in the drinking water were designated Region II. In addi tion to exposure to elevated boron in drinking water, 28.3% of the pro bands in Region I were employed in berate mining or processing, wherea s in Region II, 11.7% were so employed. An observational study was car ried out in which the authors compared the reproductive history of fam ilies living in Region I with families living in Region II by identify ing married adults (referred to as probands) who were able to provide information about their and their spouses' family pedigrees covering t hree generations. Probands were identified by home visits and, if ever married, accepted for ascertainment. Evidence of fertility was birth of a living child, and data were obtained about the fertility of the p roband generation, their parents' and also their childrens' generation s. In high-boron villages (Region I), 159 three-generation kindreds co ntaining 1068 families were ascertained and, in low-boron villages (Re gion II), 154 three-generation kindreds containing 610 families were a scertained. In Region I, 96 % of marriages produced at least one child , with primary infertility estimated at 2.34% compared with 96% and 2. 62%, respectively, for Region II. There was no significant difference in fertility either between Region I and Region II or between the vill ages within the Regions. The fertility figures are not different from similar measures of fertility in other parts of Turkey. In Region I, t he gender ratio (M:F) of offspring was 0.89, whereas in the Region II villages the gender ratio was 1.04 (NS, Chi(2) = 1.335, P > 0.05), It is concluded that at the elevated boron drinking water levels studied, a boron-related effect on reproduction was not found. (C) 1998 Elsevi er Science Inc.