Background:
Among the Aamjiwnaang First Nation (Ojibwe) in Sarnia, Ontario, researchers have documented a statistically significant decline in the proportion of male births since 1990. Aamjiwnaang is located at the fenceline of the Sarnia-Lambton “Chemical Valley,” one of Canada's largest concentrations of industry. This marked decline in the number of male births may be related to a number of environmental and occupational exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals from the petrochemical and plastics industries.

Objectives:
To familiarize participants with the Aamjiwnaang/Sarnia case study.

Methods:
Director/Producer Pamela Calvert will show an excerpt from the 2006 documentary "The Beloved Community," which shares the voices and experiences of the residents of Aamjiwnaang/Sarnia, including health researchers, parents, plant managers and workers, government regulators, and youth.

Results:
Participants will gain both specific information about a case study “hotspot” in preconception health and healthcare, as well as a powerful sense of the human face behind the statistics.

Conclusion and implications for practice:
Hormonally active chemicals are used worldwide in common substances such as pesticides, plastics, solvents, dry cleaning fluid, flame retardants and a host of consumer products. Thus, the data from Aamjiwnaang bear particular notice.