Reproductive health in female workers at mining and chemical industry enterprises in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation

Introduction. Preserving public health in the cold climate regions of the Russian Federation continues to be a significant challenge. Concerns arise because intense production activities in the Murmansk region are associated with a high prevalence of reproduction losses in working females. The apatite and nepheline mining and chemical complex occupies one of the leading places in terms of the number of workers in the industry of the Murmansk region. The share of women employed in these industries exceeds 40% of the total number of workers. Of these, up to 23% of women are employed in adverse and dangerous working conditions. The purpose of the work. To study working conditions and the state of reproductive health in female workers in the mining and processing industrial complex, as well as the share of the contribution of adverse occupational factors to reproductive health, develop preventive measures aimed at preserving reproductive health and reducing reproductive losses of women employed in the mining and chemical industry. Materials and methods. We performed an in-depth medical examination on eight hundred ninety five female workers who had been employed at the mining and processing complex for at least one year. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 818 female workers who performed labour operations at ore processing plants and also analyzed 611 cards of those females from antenatal clinics and obstetric institutions. As we accepted statistical processing methods, we used a personal computer industry showed the intense occupational exposure to characterize many types of labour processes in this industry, including the airborne particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, phenol, sulfur dioxide, and sulfuric acid. Beneficiation processes of apatite-nepheline ores can be hazardous to reproductive health, increasing the risks of gynecological diseases and contributing to pregnancy complications and perinatal outcomes. Limitations. The period of the study is from 2018 to 2022. Conclusion. To solve one of the main national security problems related to the fast depopulation of the Arctic regions, besides socio-economic measures to preserve the population and enhance the total fertility rate, it is necessary to improve the regulations governing the protection of reproductive health in female workers exposed to occupational hazards in the workplaces at the beneficiation of the processes of apatite-nepheline ores.