On endocrine disruption at the workplace – how to get from suggestive to conclusive evidence?

Unusual clusters and outbreaks of reproductive disorders during past decades remind us of the devastating health consequences and human suffering to which exposure to industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals may give rise. Birth defects caused by gestational exposure to thalidomide, vaginal cancer by diethylstilbestrol, azoospermia by dibromochloropropane, cerebral palsy by methyl mercury, and fetal wasting syndrome by chlorinated biphenyls are all inscribed in medical history as tragic mementos of ignorance and neglect in the past (1). In parallel with the fast-increasing entrance of women into the workforce, interest in occupational reproductive hazards accelerated in the Nordic countries in the 1970s and 80s. Women working in healthcare, industry, and agriculture are potentially exposed to high levels of chemicals, resulting in possibly substantial risk of toxicity to their unborn child. Systematic epidemiologic research addressing reproductive hazards at the workplace has fostered thousands of papers from the 1980s to present day. Reports of associations between a large range of exposures and reproductive outcome s spanning infertility, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and childhood cancer and cognitive impairment are abundant. Many studies suggest that in particular organic solvents, pesticides and heavy metals are occupational reproductive hazards, but – with noteworthy exceptions – few specific exposures s urvive critical systematic review to become established r...
Source: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health - Category: Occupational Health Tags: Editorial Source Type: research