EDITORIAL
Genetics
The contributions of genetics and genomics to occupational safety and health
Correspondence to:
Dr P A Schulte, CDC/NIOSH, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA; pas4@cdc.gov
How far away are we from genetics impacting worker health?
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
In an era when the biomedical community is extolling the benefits of genetic technologies and advances, the question arises whether these benefits may also have a positive impact on occupational safety and health (OSH). Historically, genetic factors have not been widely considered in OSH. Has any change occurred in recent years, or can we expect change in the near future?
Genetic factors contribute to the variable responses of workers to occupational hazards—particularly chemical hazards and some biological and physical agents.1 Although increasingly workplace exposures are being controlled to lower concentrations, workers with susceptible genetic profiles may still be at unacceptably high risk. There is a broad range of published evidence showing that genetic polymorphisms can lead to differential occupational disease risks in exposed workers.2–7
Clearly, genetic technology has been useful in these studies of occupational disease and chemical exposures. The greatest contributions thus far have involved understanding mechanisms and
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