by Diane Colabello, Senior Health and Safety Specialist
Working in a laboratory presents a set of unique risks to any researcher, let alone a researcher who is pregnant. Depending on the nature of the work, there could be a number of chemical, biological, radiological, physical, or occupational hazards present. A job hazard analysis is a great tool for identifying hazards and minimizing risks of the work to be done. But assessing hazards can be particularly difficult for pregnant researchers as data is often lacking about toxicity or changes in vulnerability at different stages of pregnancy.
What to Expect When Expecting in Lab: A Review of Unique Risks and Resources for Pregnant Researchers in the Chemical Laboratory is an article published in 2022 authored by two Yale researchers and can be a great source of information for pregnant researchers looking to critically review their own work. This review discusses the risks of common chemical classes and other hazards routinely found in laboratories, and when possible, it details the risk based on the trimester of a pregnancy.
Along with the advice of a medical provider and research like this, the WCM EHS department is another resource available to you when evaluating the safety of your work. This includes providing access to Chemwatch, an online database of Safety Data Sheets, as well as access to the Salute chemical inventory, which can help flag high-hazard chemical agents in the lab. You can reach out to EHS with questions by calling 646-962-7233, emailing ehs@med.cornell.edu, or submitting a General Request through the Salute platform.