Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace

On June 27, 1990, the US Supreme Court announced that a decision will be made at its next session as to whether federal laws prohibiting sex discrimination in employment prevent companies from barring women of childbearing age from some hazardous jobs. This announcement points to but one of the issues in a complex subject of interest to obstetricians, pediatricians, urologists, and occupational medicine specialists. This book, a hard copy reprint of the report prepared by the Science Information Resource Center in response to a congressional request, is an excellent background document. It attempts to catalog all types of environmental hazards—chemical, physical, and biological—that are thought to have deleterious effects on the human reproductive cycle measured from preconception to adulthood. Also included are reviews of the human reproductive process and child development, methods for control of hazards, and related economic, ethical, and legal problems. Options for congressional legislative remedies are suggested.