Protecting the reproductive health of workers: problems in science and public policy

Abstract

This paper first reviews the scientific problems involved in assessing the effects on reproductive health of toxic substances in the work environment. It then describes the current status of regulatory policies designed to control workers' exposures to toxins believed to affect reproduction. Finally, the paper discusses the relationship between scientific uncertainty and regulatory strategies. Because demonstrating reproductive health effects is extremely difficult, the assessment of the health risks of exposures, as well as of the economic costs of regulation, is probabilistic. Therefore, uncertainty is inherent in any regulatory decision in this area. And the case of reproductive risks is illustrative of the more general problem of protecting the health of workers within a context of scientific uncertainty, and within a highly charged political environment characterized by anti-regulatory sentiment and industries in economic decline.

KIE: The authors begin their discussion of current public policy on reproductive hazards in the workplace by reviewing the problems inherent in scientifically assessing the effects of toxic substances on reproductive health. They then describe present regulatory policy in this area, using the lead standard of 1978 as an example of a good standard whose effectiveness has been compromised by Reagan administration changes. Valentine and Plough recommend a regulatory approach which accommodates scientific uncertainty and recognizes the difficulty of determining costs and benefits, but conclude that such an approach is unlikely to be adopted because of a shift in the economic and political balance of power.