Environment, health, and gender in Latin America: Trends and research issues

Over the past several decades, Latin America underwent rapid urbanization, a demographic shift led by women. Women now make up almost half of the econ omically active population and the feminization of urban poverty is being r eported as well. The majority of men and women now work in unregulated, uno rganized "informal" and nontraditional industries and services lacking occu pational and environmental regulations. There is a marked paucity of health studies examining possible hazardous exposures, especially where gender-ba sed social etiologies are concerned, This is true even in concentrated indu stries such as manufacturing assembly plants and in potentially hazardous o ccupations in mining and nontraditional agricultural exports, for which dat a fr om other disciplines are available and raise serious concerns. The nee d to ensure enough jobs at sufficient levels of income to alleviate poverty will remain a major challenge at the turn of the century and the environme ntal health implications of doing so could be far-reaching. What data are a vailable and, more strikingly, the paucity of published epidemiologic studi es warrant deep concern and support calls for urgent, multidisciplinary res earch into the health effects of the combined, multiple assaults of hazardo us industrial waste, inadequate water and sewage treatment, and occupationa l exposures. Given the complex and varied work roles of women, the informat ion reviewed also points to the need to conduct such research in the region within a social-etiologic framework of gender analysis. (C) 1999 Academic Press.