Future impact of genetic screening in occupational and environmental medicine.

Abstract

New genetic technologies open up the possibility of predictive screening, both for individual genetic risk factors for susceptibility to workplace hazards and for late onset (both single gene and multifactorial) hereditary disease. Although the initiative for testing may lie with employers and employees there are many potential stakeholders--from family members and workplace colleagues to insurers and society in general. The role of the occupational health professional will not only involve the contextual interpretation of genetic test results but also the myriad of associated ethical and moral questions. This paper considers a range of ethical issues with which the occupational health professional may be confronted as genetic technology advances.