REDUCED FERTILITY AND SOLVENT EXPOSURE IN SHOE MANUFACTURING

Although shoes are sometimes still produced by traditional, manual methods, workers can be exposed to a variety of potentially toxic agents, including dusts, dyes and solvents. In this issue, Sallmén et al1 report reduced fertility among female show manufacturing workers in Portugal. In this study, women working in shoe factories took longer to become pregnant than women employed in other local industries. The time to pregnancy was not appreciably longer for women classified as highly exposure to any of eight organic solvents, however. The authors …