Fathers exposed to poisonous substances are probably just as likely to
be the cause of defects in their unborn infants as mothers. Yet it is women
who are told to stop drinking and smoking and to look after their health when
they are pregnant. And it is women who find that they are banned from jobs where
they are exposed to harmful chemicals or radiation. 62) Despite a growing
body of scientific evidence that a man’s exposure to damaging substances can
affect his offspring, pregnant women are still charged with the responsibility
of keeping their infants healthy, said Gladys Friedler, of the Boston University
School of Medicine. "This is puzzling", she said. "Most of the workforce is
still male, so why do we still spend so much time looking at women The health
of men as well as women should be of concern." In the US,
2,500,000 children are born with birth defects each year. In 60 percent of cases
the origin of the defect is not known. 63) These figures do not include less
obvious problems that appear later in development, such as biochemical
malfunctions and behavioral problems. Many researchers
still seem reluctant to contemplate that a man’s environment can influence the
health of children. "If the effects had not been so obvious, we might still be
reluctant to acknowledge the effect of environmental agents on women." Despite
this, there is a reluctance to accept the accumulated evidence of men’s effects
on development, she said. 64) Some companies have already taken steps to
"protect the unborn child" by excluding women from jobs where they might be
exposed to dangerous substances. This has led to some bitter disputes
between the women and their employers in the US. The most famous case, now
before the Supreme Court, pits a group of women and their union against Johnson
Controls, a company which makes batteries. 65) The company transferred women
from higher-paying jobs where they were exposed to lead on the grounds that it
had to protect unborn children. The irony is that children born to men
working in the factory are probably just as much at risk.