Employer fetal protection policies at work: Balancing reproductive hazards with Title VII rights
Perhaps one of the most compelling divisive workplace issues of the decade surrounds the use of increasingly complex chemicals in work environments which raises legal, economic, medical and moral concerns, especially as employers adopt employment policies meant to avoid the specter of massive tort liability for workplace exposure injuries to workers or third parties. In the case, /International Union v. Johnson Controls, the Supreme Court struck down an employer's policy prohibiting fertile women from work involving exposure to the well-known teratogen, lead, where the employer could not produce a defense to this facially discriminatory policy. The authors analyze the Court's opinion and concurrences, and note the important tensions still needed resolution after the case: namely the public policy mandate to protect all populations from workplace toxins; to eradicate toxins from the workplace; and to promote worker and safety health of both men and women.
Teratogenesis and mutagenesis associated with the exposure of human males to lead: a review.
Major sectors of the lead-related industries have traditionally supported the view that the exposure of human males and females to lead is associated with significantly different reproductive-related risks. This review examines selected data pertaining to teratogenesis and mutagenesis associated with the exposure of human males to lead. The existing body of epidemiologic data examining reproductive-related effects associated with lead exposure of human males is relatively sparse and incomplete. Data findings are also conflicting. On the basis of selected available data, however, the exposure of human males to lead may be associated with significant reproductive-related harms. Too little attention has been directed by the scientific community toward possible reproductive-related effects of lead exposure on human males. There is a strong need for further good studies.
Cancer in the offspring of fathers in hydrocarbon-related occupations.
A case-control study has been conducted to see whether a hydrocarbon-related occupation of the father at the time of conception constitutes a risk factor for malignant disease in the offspring. The series comprised 852 cancer cases from the Finnish Cancer Registry and 852 controls matched for date of birth and domicile. The father's occupation for both the cases and controls was ascertained from the records of antenatal clinics. No significant associations were found between the commonest types of childhood cancer and hydrocarbon-related occupations--that is, motor-vehicle mechanics, machinists, miners, painters, and motor-vehicle drivers. Risk ratio 2 was excluded from most of the 95% confidence intervals for children under 15 years of age. The results do not support the hypothesis that there is an excess risk of cancer in the children of fathers in hydrocarbon-related occupations.