ENVIRONMENT AND THE GENITOURINARY TRACT

A variety of environmental factors have been associated with condition s that affect the genitourinary system, Chronic lead exposure and halo genated hydrocarbons have been found to affect sperm production and fe rtility, Heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium have been associated with renal tubular toxicity and kidney failure, Aromatic amines, used in a number of industrial processes and most commonly found in the dy e industry, have been associated with development of bladder cancer, T he same substances that are metabolites in cigarette smoke have been f ound to explain the strong association between bladder cancer and ciga rette smoking, Chlorination and fluoridation have recently been associ ated with bladder cancer. In each of these associations, host factors may contribute to the toxicity of these substances either by detoxifyi ng them or by converting them to more active agents, Education and reg ulation are needed to decrease the environmental risk they create.