YOU ARE NOW CONNECTED TO THE TOXLINE (1981 FORWARD, NON-ROYALTY) FILE. ==REPRODUCTIVE OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS== 2 AUTHOR Taskinen HK AUTHOR Olsen J AUTHOR Bach B TITLE Experiences in developing legislation protecting reproductive health. SOURCE J Occup Environ Med; VOL 37, ISS 8, 1995, P974-9 ABSTRACT The law regarding special maternity leave for pregnant women in hazardous work situations has been in effect since 1981 in Denmark. In Finland, legislation regarding the protection of the reproductive health of working men and women and of pregnant women has been in effect since 1991. According to the special maternity leave law, women who are exposed to certain chemical, physical, or biological agents that are considered to be harmful to the fetus may be entitled to special maternity leave and benefits. In Denmark and in Finland, approximately 1% and 0.1%, respectively, of pregnant women have used the special maternity leave due to a risky work situation. In Finland, the yearly costs of the leave have been US $200,000 to $250,000. Trained occupational physicians can facilitate changes at the workplace that will decrease the need for special maternity leave. 2 AUTHOR Kettel B TITLE Women, health and the environment. SOURCE Soc Sci Med; VOL 42, ISS 10, 1996, P1367-79 (REF: 47) ABSTRACT This paper develops a conceptual framework for gender-sensitive research and policy analysis that centres on women's interaction with the biophysical environment, and the implications of that interaction for their environmental health. The paper reviews the lack of data on women's non-reproductive health, and argues that there is a need for increased research and policy formulation dealing with women's environmental health in both the developing and the developed countries. One important dilemma for most researchers interested in women's environmental health is the lack of an appropriate conceptual model. The paper argues that attention to women's interaction with the biophysical environment within their own life spaces' reveals that women are exposed to the hazards of environmental illness in a manner that is clearly gender-differentiated. The paper reviews the impact of poverty, illiteracy and gender bias on women's life spaces, and argues that the failure to recognize and protect women's life spaces in economic policy and planning commonly leads to "disease environments" for women and their children. Evidence of the impact of such disease environments on women's environmental health is drawn from the urban setting and from women's experience of desertification in Africa and Asia. The paper reviews the policy issues that emerge from this analysis, and makes a series of suggestions for national and international policy and action in support of improvements in women's environmental health. 2 AUTHOR Saiki CL AUTHOR Gold EB AUTHOR Schenker MB TITLE Workplace policy on hazards to reproductive health. SOURCE Occup Med; VOL 9, ISS 3, 1994, P541-9 (REF: 26) ABSTRACT At present, workplace policies regarding reproductive hazards are not regulated directly, and inappropriate policies are occasionally corrected by legal actions or union pressures on the employers. Further, information on reproductive hazards is incomplete; however, employees have a legal right to know available information about hazards, including reproductive hazards, that they face in the workplace. Occupational health personnel play a major role in communicating information about reproductive hazards in the workplace and in implementing company policy and complying with legislation. Regulatory and case law likely will continue to evolve as many issues related to safety from reproductive hazards in the workplace have not yet been resolved. 3 AUTHOR Gold EB AUTHOR Lasley BL AUTHOR Schenker MB TITLE Introduction: rationale for an update. Reproductive hazards. SOURCE Occup Med; VOL 9, ISS 3, 1994, P363-72 (REF: 79) ABSTRACT More than 104,000 chemical and physical agents have been identified in the workplace, but the effects on reproduction of at least 95% of them have not been assessed. Here, the editors of this volume describe changing demographics in the workplace, which underscore the need for evaluating potential hazards to reproduction. They also review findings regarding occupational reproductive hazards to men and women that have been reported over the past decade. 7 AUTHOR Sever LE TITLE Congenital malformations related to occupational reproductive hazards. SOURCE Occup Med 1994 Jul-Sep;9(3):471-94 ABSTRACT Occupational and environmental agents are the suspected cause of at least some of the approximately 60% of birth defects whose etiology is unknown. The author discusses studies of birth defects published since 1988. Studies that examine associations between congenital malformations and both maternal and paternal exposures are included.