"The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has assembled this document in response to an increasing number of requests for information about reproductive hazards in the workplace. Included in this publication are six references that describe NIOSH activities and recommendations related to this subject as well as non-NIOSH studes on reproductive hazards."--Introduction

The United States Navy has been concerned for some time with protecting its military and civilian personnel from reproductive and developmental hazards in the workplace. As part of its efforts to reduce or eliminate exposure of Naval personnel and their families to reproductive and developmental toxicants, the Navy requested that the National Research Council (NRC) recommend an approach that can be used to evaluate chemicals and physical agents for their potential to cause reproductive and developmental toxicity. The NRC assigned this project to the Committee on Toxicology, which convened the Subcommittee on Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology, to prepare this report. In this report, the subcommittee recommends an approach for evaluating agents for potential reproductive and developmental toxicity and demonstrates how that approach can be used by the Navy. This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: James Chen (National Center for Toxicological Research), George Daston (Procter and Gamble Company), Jerry Heindel (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences), Grace Lemasters (University of Cincinnati), and John Young (National Center for Toxicological Research).

The International Life Sciences Institute (!LSI) is a scientific foundation that addresses critical health and safety issues of national and international con cern. ILSI promotes international cooperation by providing the mechanism for scientists from government, industry, and universities to work together on cooperative programs to generate and disseminate scientific data. The mem bers and trustees of the institute believe that questions regarding health and safety are best resolved when scientists can examine and discuss issues as an independent body separate from the political pressures of individual countries and the economic concerns of individual companies. Frequently, meaningful assessment of the risk of a test substance is hindered by the inherent inconsistencies in the system. The development and refine ment of methods and systems to evaluate the safety of chemicals have evolved in a rapid and largely unplanned fashion. Attempts to improve the system have mainly been directed toward broad general concerns, with little attention being given to specific problems or issues. A failure to resolve these problems has frequently resulted in increased testing costs and complications in the assessment and extrapolation of the results to humans. Publicity surrounding toxicologic issues makes it difficult for governments to deal effectively with these problems. In response to these difficulties, ILSI has assembled highly qualified and renowned scientists from research institutes, universities, government, and industry with relevant scientific knowledge and expertise regarding the issues that complicate risk assessment procedures.