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Hazards: Technology and Fairness (1986)

Chapter: Hypersusceptibility to Occupational Hazards

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Suggested Citation:"Hypersusceptibility to Occupational Hazards." National Academy of Engineering. 1986. Hazards: Technology and Fairness. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/650.
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Page 79

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HYPERSUSCEPTIBILITY TO OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS 79 original typesetting files. Page breaks are true to the original; line lengths, word breaks, heading styles, and other typesetting-specific formatting, however, cannot be About this PDF file: This new digital representation of the original work has been recomposed from XML files created from the original paper book, not from the retained, and some typographic errors may have been accidentally inserted. Please use the print version of this publication as the authoritative version for attribution. Hypersusceptibility to Occupational Hazards Eula Bingham A significant amount of time and effort is devoted to devising procedures, policies, and laws to protect workers from occupational hazards. The fact that workers vary greatly in their sensitivities to these hazards provides the rationale for discussing hypersusceptibility to occupational hazards and considering it an important issue in the years to come. Examination of the topic of susceptible populations is likely to lead to the conclusion that this is a very emotional subject. This is because of the complexity of the issue and because hiring and placement practices have been based on questionable assumptions of hypersusceptibility. For example, women of childbearing age have often been excluded from certain jobs in order that, in the event of pregnancy, the fetus would be protected from possible birth defects resulting from exposure to teratogens in the workplace. The causal relationship between birth defects and specific occupational exposures has not been demonstrated to any extent in human populations (Wilson, 1977). Unlike the case of thalidomide, where there is a clear association with birth defects, the data are lacking or not available to determine whether comparable risks exist for women exposed in the workplace. Since risk assessment has become such an important element in our public posture on interventions regarding environmental exposures, one must ask certain questions; for example, why do we not demand the necessary data before assuming all women are a "susceptible population"? When an agent clearly has its toxic effect on germinal cells, why is only the female selected for protection? Another instance in which questionable hypersusceptibility results in dis

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"In the burgeoning literature on technological hazards, this volume is one of the best," states Choice in a three-part approach, it addresses the moral, scientific, social, and commercial questions inherent in hazards management. Part I discusses how best to regulate hazards arising from chronic, low-level exposures and from low-probability events when science is unable to assign causes or estimate consequences of such hazards; Part II examines fairness in the distribution of risks and benefits of potentially hazardous technologies; and Part III presents practical lessons and cautions about managing hazardous technologies. Together, the three sections put hazard management into perspective, providing a broad spectrum of views and information.

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