Workgroup Report: Implementing a National Occupational Reproductive Research Agenda: Decade One and beyond

• Published in: Environmental health perspectives 2006-03, Vol.114 (3), p.435-441
• Main Authors: Lawson, Christina C., Grajewski, Barbara, Daston, George P., Frazier, Linda M., Lynch, Dennis, McDiarmid, Melissa, Murono, Eisuke, Perreault, Sally D., Robbins, Wendie A., Megan A. K. Ryan, Shelby, Michael, Whelan, Elizabeth A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alignment; Assessments; Biologists; Biomechanics; Chemical hazards; Cohesion; Copyrights; Design engineering; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; Environmental agencies; Environmental health; Epidemiology; Gene expression; Hazardous Substances - toxicity; Hazards; Health; Humans; Labor; Menopause; Nanomaterials; Nanotechnology; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.); Occupational; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational hazards; Occupational Health; Occupational health and safety; Occupational safety; Priorities; Reproduction - drug effects; Reproductive health; Reproductive Medicine; Screening; Surveillance; Toxicants; Toxicology; United States; Workplaces
• ISSN: 0091-6765; 1552-9924
• DOI: 10.1289/ehp.8458

The initial goal of occupational reproductive health research is to effectively study the many toxicants, physical agents, and biomechanical and psychosocial stressors that may constitute reproductive hazards in the workplace. Although the main objective of occupational reproductive researchers and clinicians is to prevent recognized adverse reproductive outcomes, research has expanded to include a broader spectrum of chronic health outcomes potentially affected by reproductive toxicants. To aid in achieving these goals, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, along with its university, federal, industry, and labor colleagues, formed the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) in 1996. NORA resulted in 21 research teams, including the Reproductive Health Research Team (RHRT). In this report, we describe progress made in the last decade by the RHRT and by others in this field, including prioritizing reproductive toxicants for further study; facilitating collaboration among epidemiologists, biologists, and toxicologists; promoting quality exposure assessment in field studies and surveillance; and encouraging the design and conduct of priority occupational reproductive studies. We also describe new tools for screening reproductive toxicants and for analyzing mode of action. We recommend considering outcomes such as menopause and latent adverse effects for further study, as well as including exposures such as shift work and nanomaterials. We describe a broad domain of scholarship activities where a cohesive system of organized and aligned work activities integrates 10 years of team efforts and provides guidance for future research.