Since antiquity, certain chemical and physical agents have been recognized as having detrimental effects on human reproduction. Evidence from more recent laboratory studies and clinical investigations indicates that a wide range of microbiologic, physical, and chemical agents, such as Brucella, rubella, ionizing and nonionizing radiation, heat and vibration, tobacco, alcohol, and certain drugs, can adversely affect reproductive outcomes. Until recently, the potential hazards to human reproduction posed by occupational exposures received little attention. However, adverse effects after thalidomide exposure in the 1960s and the occurrence in 1970 of methylmercury poisoning among residents of Minamata, Japan, dramatically demonstrated the teratogenic potential of chemical exposures. Those events and the increasing entry of women into the workforce focused greater attention on the potential hazards to female reproductive function of occupational exposures.
Occupational exposures can produce a wide range of adverse effects on reproduction.
The effects of parental exposure before conception to agents toxic to reproductive functions may be evident as reduced fertility, unsuccessful fertilization or implantation, or an abnormal fetus. Maternal exposure after conception may result in death of the fetus or structural and functional abnormalities in the newborn. Estimates of the prevalence of adverse reproductive outcomes indicate that these events occur with considerable frequency in the U.S. population. For example, an estimated 560,000 infant deaths, spontaneous abortions, and stillbirths occur each year. The causes of most of these adverse outcomes are unknown.