Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Research lags on the health risks of women's exposure to chemicals

Women have been expanding their roles in the workplace for decades, but gender studies on the impact of workplace chemicals have yet to catch up

The most common image associated with workplace chemical exposure usually involves a man, perhaps clad in a lab coat or a coverall, carefully interacting with lethal compounds. For decades, however, women have been moving into a host of jobs that bring them into regular contact with toxic chemicals, from hair styling to housekeeping to firefighting.

Now, several nonprofit health groups including Commonweal, Breast Cancer Action, and Breast Cancer Fund, have joined forces to begin to take on this problem. Working with the San Francisco Fire Department, they recently released a study to determine the health impacts of firefighting on women.

Related: Defining moments: share an experience that has shaped your values

Related: The medical research gender gap: how excluding women from clinical trials is hurting our health

Related: Not so pretty: women apply an average of 168 chemicals every day

Related: Women still do most of the cleaning: is it putting their health at risk?

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