• Deepak Gupta, Edward Kaminski, George McKelvey, and Hong Wang.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI 48201, United States.
• J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2013 Apr 1; 29 (2): 221-7.

BackgroundA parental occupation such as anesthesia care provider can involve exposure of the parent to various chemicals in the work environment and has been correlated to skewed offspring sex ratios.ObjectivesThe objective was to conduct a nation-wide survey to observe (a) whether firstborn offspring sex ratio (OSR) in anesthesia providers is skewed towards increased female offspring, and (b) to identify potential factors influencing firstborn OSR, particularly those relating to the peri-conceptional practice of inhalational anesthesia induction among anesthesia providers.Materials And MethodsAfter institutional review board approval, a questionnaire was uploaded on SurveyMonkey and sent to anesthesia providers through their program coordinators in United States (US) to complete the survey.ResultsThe current US national total-population sex ratio is 0.97 male (s)/female with an at-birth sex ratio of 1.05 male (s)/female; comparatively, the results from anesthesia providers' survey respondents (n = 314) were a total OSR of 0.93 male (s)/female (P = 0.61) with firstborn OSR 0.82 male (s)/female (a 6% increase in female offspring; P = 0.03), respectively. The only significant peri-conceptional factor related to anesthesia providers' firstborn OSR's skew was inhalational induction practice by anesthesia care provider favoring female offspring (P < 0.01).ConclusionBased on the results of this limited survey, it can be concluded that anesthesia care providers who practice inhalation induction of anesthesia during the peri-conceptional period are significantly more likely to have firstborn female offspring.

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