Samenvatting

A growing number of women have paid jobs before and during pregnancy. Thus, increasingly more women are potentially exposed to occupational hazards by working with organic solvents, pollutants, toxins, or contaminated water. Working in these areas can lead to adverse effects on the health of young women as well as on pregnancy outcomes and their health in later life. The aim of this chapter is to provide information about work-related risks and the consequences of environmental pollutants on preconceptional health and early pregnancy. Three periods of time for consideration around exposure to toxins will be examined: (a) planning a pregnancy and exposure, (b) exposure during an unplanned pregnancy, and (c) exposure considered the cause in a case of an adverse outcome (e.g., delivery or a child with a birth defect).