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Animal and Human Studies in Genetic Toxicology

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Pregnant Women at Work

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Abstract

Although a great deal of justified attention has been focused on the vulnerability of the fetus following in utero exposure to toxic chemicals, recent scientific evidence would suggest the importance of chemically induced genetic lesions during spermatogenesis and their possible adverse health outcome. Rather than discussing the hazards of chemicals to pregnant women at work, it may be more appropriate to discuss the risk to the fetus from parental exposure, recognising the role of both male and female exposure in transmission of deleterious health outcomes. These effects to the fetus should be viewed as a continuum from pre-zygotic chemical exposure to chemical effects during in utero exposure, and effects that may not be apparent for several generations. Tables 13.1–13.3 describe possible adverse health outcomes to female reproductive function, to male reproductive health outcomes and to the fetus following exposure to chemical or physical agents1.

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Authors
  1. M. S. Legator
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  2. J. B. Ward Jr.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. St George’s Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, UK

    Geoffrey Chamberlain (Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) (Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology)

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© 1984 The Royal Society of Medicine

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Legator, M.S., Ward, J.B. (1984). Animal and Human Studies in Genetic Toxicology. In: Chamberlain, G. (eds) Pregnant Women at Work. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-86031-9_13

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