Chronic disease in the workplace and the environment. Reproductive problems: fertility, teratogenesis, and mutagenesis.

While information on the toxic attributes of specific compounds is voluminous, most of it is inconclusive regarding the risks of reproductive problems. Observations that seem to suggest freedom from risk are often insufficient to conclude they are not due to chance, and when clinically outstanding effects are apparent, the number of observations is often so small that it is probable that their importance has been overestimated. This presentation focuses on the process rather than specific agents on the persons at risk, the types of exposures, the possible nature of the hazards, the factors which impinge on this risk, and finally, the additional information required to make risk estimation more precise. It seeks to identify strategies which will improve the quality of information routinely collected, address the mensurational problems associated with the estimation of exposures, and permit earlier recognition of the especially vulnerable.