Pregos in lab (Unedited)
March 18th, 2008 by Kyle
(596 Views)
This is a sensitive issue, so I’ll tread lightly here (or as lightly as I can.) I’ve wondered to myself, as a member of the Cock And Nuts Club, if women who are with child should be “allowed” to work in the lab. By “with child” of course I mean Preggos and by “lab” I mean a real lab where there are chemicals like chloroform and benzene and RB flasks and shit. Biochemistry labs don’t count since they poop themselves when someone spills the “Ethidium bromide”, which is orders of magnitude more dangerous than their next killer - HEPES buffer. Since we organic chemists eat Ethidium bromide on our toast, the true understanding of glove-penetrating solvents with the ability to conduct organic compounds transdermally into your blood stream should be more apparent. In short, as I watch the current trend of celebrity pregnancy blend itself with graduate students, it’s becoming abundantly clear that there should be some sort of guidelines that establish when and if it is appropriate to tell a pregnant woman she can’t work in the lab any more.But I’m one of those sushi-eating, BMW driving, tree hugging, pro-choice libertarians who doesn’t particularly feel inclined to tell people what they should or shouldn’t do with things intractably connected to their uterus. It’s simply a concern for the liability for a school and for a student since, as often as Universities like to play the dual card of “You’re student/Staff - more so when it suits us best” they’d have a hard time running from the accusation that “I’m just a dumb student, no one told me I shouldn’t play in the lab while preggers.” While logically, no one should be able to get away with this defense. It’s the proverbial killing of your parents and asking for leniency because you’re an orphan - but the judicial system in this country doesn’t work that way. When it comes to placing fault, the “victim” is generally treated like… well… a victim.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it’s a bad decision to work in the lab while a woman is pregnant. My liability isn’t at stake here. If a woman chooses to do so, however, she carries the burden of risk with her, however high that may be. The fact that there is no consensus, let alone regulation, isn’t totally surprising, but the fact that there is no policy of forcing a bunch of forms and signatures is a bit.
on
my comments were the best part of that post, anyway.
I still don’t see why Kyle felt obliged to pull this post. Kyle?
I think an administrator at his university threatened he wouldn’t receive some fellowship or honor or some crap if he didn’t take it down. Not sure if that is the correct storyline though.
Mitch
heh. No, Mitch. That’s certainly quite fanciful, however. The truth is exactly as I stated: ANYONE that asks for a post to be removed will have their request granted, assuming the post deals with their condition in some way. A pregos lady asked me to remove it, so I did. Indeed, the faculty that I spoke to about it expressed indignation at the notion that I would have removed it as well.
It doesn’t mean it can’t be put elsewhere, of course.
Woops, apparently I’m expelling fanciful tales of nonsense… Eh, my story is better though, by better I mean more sordid.
Mitch
Pregnant women should be careful when working in the lab because of how the chemicals might effect the growth of the fetus. While the woman has the right to decide that, there are certain chemicals and organisms that have a known risk towards fetuses.
For example, Listeria monocytogenes is well known for causing spontaneous miscarriages. So it would be a really stupid pregnant woman who would continue to work in a food microbiology lab where L monocytogenes is being kept. In fact, our microbe guy put a notice on his lab door saying ” L. monocytogenes grown in this lab. Pregnant women should not enter.” or words to that effect.
I just happen to have written on this very issue in the previous incarnation of my Alchemist column on ChemWeb - I’ve posted the unedited item from my archives as an item entitled An Expectant Air in the Laboratory. Hope it’s of interest.
db
WOW!!!! So I am the only WOMAN…who has worked with WOMEN who were pregnant and working in a laboratory environment and those women had the common sense to take “Maternity Leave” when it was appropriate and/or witin the realm of good judgement and/or common sense!!!!
Are you thinking they have a dual death wish and are going to dive head first into a vat of APIs…….
Really, I think most pregnant women are aware of the hazards in labs if they are chemists/biologists/scientists. They are pregnant. They are not mentally ill!!!!! And educated enough to use sound judgement!!!!!
Try teaching HS Chemistry with 4-5 pregnant girls in each of your sections…..Even they have enough judgement to know when they can no longer function in the lab/school environment…..
I guess you must all feel quite LUCKY y’all made it to this earth in one piece!!!!!!
HHHMMMM Interesting!!!!!! So I am guessing that women just do not have time to write about any of this since they are busy working and being pregnant…Assisting in perpetuating the hman race is a big job/responsibility….
Nice to see you credit women with the ability to make a judgement call regarding their own health and well-being!!!!!
PEACE OUT!!!!!
That last comment was linguistically atrocious.
Look at Kyle’s original site, for some lengthy postings of yours truly and a female chemisty department chair (posts #71 - 75). No point in ‘reproducing’ them here. We all think our children are beautiful, and our posts interesting. I find the comments as interesting as the progeny. Have at it.